Death Wings (Rewrite)
by RainbowSpark18
Summary: SEQUEL TO SEA ANGELS Percy's gone missing again, but this time he's not exactly himself. Nico's distraught over trying to find him but when he finds him, will he be the same Percy he fell in love with? War is inevitable, but who is on which side? Boy x boy, Pernico Don't like, don't read. No flames, but constructive criticism ok! THIS IS THE REWRITE
1. Prologue

The man made sure he and Erebus were completely hidden by the darkness, but as a precaution, they had dressed in all black, blending in with the shadows to the best of their abilities without the primordial's powers. They had managed to sneak in past the Caldecott Tunnel without so much as a second glance by the two legionnaires on sentry duty.

He had mapped out everything down to the nanosecond, meaning that they couldn't afford any setbacks. If anything, the plan had just become a hundred times easier as the girl playing babysitter over Perseus had left him alone in the male Praetor's villa. Sure, the Praetor was there, but Hecate and Nyx had made sure to send the boy a deep sleep that would break when the moment the sun came up.

He glanced at his brother. "Everything's in place, brother. Shall we proceed?"

"You needn't be so formal," Erebus told him in a whisper, as the two phased through entire buildings, blatantly disregarding the architectural accomplishments of Camp Jupiter. Fountains here, aqueducts there, and a million other temples and marble statues of the gods – he had already seen this before, over four millennia ago.

"It's a habit. Ah, there we go! Praetor Zhang's private villa. Let us get going before anything goes awry."

"Have you signaled Nyx?"

"Yes, and the blackout should begin," - he paused for a moment, before all the torches and electrical lighting from New Rome shut off all at once - "now." He grinned at the sounds of people screaming in outrage as the power no longer flowed through the wires.

Erebus shadow traveled the both of them into the villa as he sprang into action, cutting through the Celestial bronze chains like they were butter with Mors. He quickly sheathed his sword. As he begun to lift Perseus over his shoulder, the son of Poseidon bit his shoulder, making him scowl in mild annoyance at the feeling of teeth digging into his flesh. Why exactly the fallen son of Poseidon was biting him was beyond him, but knowing that they had no time to waste, he shrugged the boy's mouth off of him and turned to face his brother.

"Do we need anything else, brother?" Erebus asked him.

"Grab some of that blasted medication he's on. The disownment predicament is no match for our powers. We'll be able to restore him in no time," he said, swinging Perseus' body over his shoulders in a fireman carry. "We need to hurry and get out of here, before Nyx's presence is realized, alerting the gods."

"Agreed." Erebus threw in a few bottles of medicine from a cabinet in the kitchen into a leather pouch he had hanging off his belt, before grabbing his hand, shadow traveling the two of them back to headquarters just as the lights flickered back on.

* * *

"Triton!" he called out, placing Perseus onto a bed they had prepared for him last night. Or at least, he thought a night has passed. Time was difficult here. "Triton! Where in Chaos's name are you?"

"Here my lord!" the sea prince cried, bowing to him on his two tails.

He sneered at the godling, hating the fact that he habitually remained as a merman. "You know how I feel about seeing you in fish form, Triton. Plus, your brother will surely recognize you with your two tails."

"My apologies." Triton's tails took on the form of human legs, though his skin was still a pale green color. At least shorts appeared on him, and he wasn't buck naked in front of a primordial. That sort of indiscretion would've led to a serious punishment being dealt. "You called?"

"Yes, watch Perseus for me until I can reverse his condition."

"My father's an idiot," Triton said, resigned. "It's almost like he _is_ trying to kill Percy."

"You still call Poseidon 'father'?" he asked him.

"Force of habit, my lord."

"Well, break that habit, or we'll have to see how helpful you are with a single tail."

Triton blanched, promising that he would sever all ties with Poseidon further than he actually had. He stood there, smirking as a once proud god was groveling at his feet to keep his appendages attached. If only all the Olympians were this pliable to mold.

"I'll alert you if he changes," Triton offered.

"No. Only let me know if he's on the verge of death, again. We have time to fix him."

"Good. As much as I'm glad that he will survive, I kind of wanted to see Fat-Poseidon's reaction to seeing his favorite son die."

The primordial grinned sadistically, clapping Triton on the back for his idea. "That's ingenious!" he exclaimed. "We'll continue the plan, and you have your orders. Selene will be here shortly with the antidote."

"I understand. Thank you for liking my idea."

"No, thank you for having it. Enjoy your brotherly bonding time, Triton. We shall see each other again soon."

* * *

He paced around the throne room, his wife shooting him looks of concern from her throne, as he tried to think of the perfect plan to break the Olympian's resolve. They would need to fake Percy's death, that much he knew, but it needed to be believable enough to sound like it would've actually happened.

Their plan to attack on the winter solstice would need to be postponed, possibly until next year, but if that was the price they needed to pay, they'd wait. Perseus needed to be trained, transformed into a weapon and a general, able to lead entire armies, unafraid in the face of danger. It would take some time, but he was sure they would get there.

"Pontus, sweetie, you're going to wear a hole through the floor if you continue pacing like that," his wife, Thalassa, reminded him.

Pontus stopped pacing, turning to face his wife. "You're good at small details. Maybe you could help me with this."

She smiled at him mischievously, so unlike the sweet, kind smile she once possessed. Millennia of being forgotten and her children abandoning her, well, it had really soured her once sweetheart personality, leaving only bitterness and an unquenchable thirst for revenge.

"Of course, my dear. What's the situation?"

"How do we realistically fake a Hero of Olympus's death?" he pondered.

Thalassa told him everything, and her plan was so detailed that Pontus had needed to call the rest of his accomplices in (minus Selene and Triton) to help accommodate everything. Once everything was planned, Perses handed Pontus a list of everything they needed, and how much time they had to preform it (twenty-one hours, by the way).

"Thank you all for your participation," Pontus said jovially. "Do your part, and return to me once you have finished. Have fun!"

The mix of titans and gods and protogenoi's ran off, each of them laughing happily as they got to play a part in the grand scheme of things. Even the guards by the doors were breaking character to chuckle a little, and Pontus wouldn't punish them for agreeing with his plan. If anything, maybe one of those guards would make things more realistic.

"Vicky!" Pontus called for the sole daughter of Triton, who quickly ran from her position, bowing in his direction.

"My lord?"

He smiled sadistically down at the young demigoddess, only eleven years of age. "How do you feel about being my spy?"

* * *

 **Kinda short, I know, but the next chapter's much longer, I promise. Thanks for reading, Sparks!**


	2. Chapter 1

**_Six Months Later_**

Nico found himself walking on the shores of Long Island Sound for what felt like the umpteenth time that week, relishing in the feeling of the waves rushing back and forth over his feet. Despite the fact that he had gradually learned to love the ocean instead of fearing it, he refused to venture in past his waist, because the feeling of being submerged in water without Percy felt unnatural to him.

Sure, in the very brief time that the two had been dating the closest they had gotten to visiting the beach was spending time on some of the glaciers around Alaska, but Nico still believed he was significantly safer from the water as long as his boyfriend was around. And seeing that he would never get that luxury again, of feeling safe near the water, he wasn't willing to risk being in Poseidon's territory for longer than necessary.

The sun shone brightly overhead, its rays burning Nico's pale skin and causing for his shaggy hair to cling to the back of his neck. He knew he would've been more comfortable either in the water or inside his cabin, but he enjoyed the burning sensation of the sun singing his skin as it reminded him that he could still feel physically even if he couldn't emotionally.

Well, it wasn't so much that he couldn't feel emotions, but after learning about Percy's fate six months ago, he chose to distance himself from his emotions, deciding that they were more trouble than they were worth. What good did it do him to feel happy for a few fleeting moments when all that was left was a growing pit of emptiness and self-loathing?

After Percy's death, Nico had stopped caring about anything and everything, almost instantly reverting back into the person he had been when Bianca had died when he was ten. He refused to leave his cabin for weeks, ignoring his friends' pleas to talk to him and for him to eat, which resulted in him losing fifteen pounds and not wanting to talk to anyone anymore.

Eventually Jason broke a window and entered the Hades cabin with plates of food piled sky high, and he slowly forced Nico to eat it all, refusing to watch his cousin waste away into nothing more than skin hanging limply off a skeleton.

Nico bemoaned the fact that Jason wouldn't leave him alone. He wished that the son of Jupiter wasn't so darn stubborn, that he would've given up like the others, but no, the older boy had to have feelings and was concerned about his well-being. If Nico was being honest with himself, he wanted to waste away, because at least it would mean he'd be reunited with Percy in Elysium.

He continued walking down the beach, his fingers reaching up to touch the blue shell that was still hanging around his necklace for some inexplicable reason. Multiple times he debated smashing the shell under the heel of his boot or throwing it as far into the sea as he could manage, wanting to throw the shell back at Poseidon's face, making him remember that he had broken his promise. Nico wanted Poseidon to realize that he could've done so much more to protect Percy, and in fact, he wanted to remind him that his actions at the hospital all those months ago was the catalyst that started this mess in the first place.

His actions would've been justified, but seeing as the shell was one of the things that had connected Percy and him at one point in time, he kept it, despite the fact that on certain days the shell was more of a dead weight than a memento.

Nico ran a hand through his unkempt hair, pausing to turn at the ocean as he did, glaring at the waves as they crashed against the sand. Usually the water made him feel better, but today, it was overwhelming, especially since the sixth month anniversary of his death was coming up.

 _Was this how Annabeth felt when Percy was missing?_ he wondered, slowly backing away from the water. At least she had some semblance of hope that she'd be reunited with Percy, but Nico would never have the chance.

He remembered taking the train from D.C. back to New York after the attack at the Potomac, and during the ride, Hazel had sent an Iris message saying that someone had kidnapped Percy. Nico remembered watching Hazel sob uncontrollably afterwards, blaming herself for not being there the night he was taken. But as if that wasn't enough, Hazel informed him that Percy had been disowned by Poseidon and that the night he had been stabbed in that gods-forsaken prison had left Soul Switch magic imbued within him. And by the time he had been kidnapped, he was already on the verge of insanity.

Bianca had set out the night before, determined to find Hecate and bargain for a cure, but rumor had it that the goddess of magic had turned against the Olympians, _again._ It didn't help matters that Kronos had disappeared around the same time, meaning that there was no way of knowing if the magic had worn off or not.

Nico's life would never be easy, would it?

Then came the day that Nico felt his soul, if you could even call that at this point, enter the Underworld. Nico had tried to summon his soul to talk, but when he appeared, he was so transparent that the slightest gust of wind severed the connection almost instantly. He was heartbroken once more. He knew he shouldn't have uttered those three words, the three words that ware a death sentence to everyone he said them to.

Sighing, he turned away from the beach and began heading back to the cabin area. He was just about to pass the volleyball courts on the edge of the beach when a tanned hand caught him in the shoulder. Nico scowled, clamped his hand around the person's wrist, and judo flipped them over his shoulder before planting a foot on their chest, preventing them from getting up. His expression softened mildly when he realized who he was pinning down.

"Sorry about that, Will."

The son of Apollo gave him a warm smile in reply. "I knew you were strong before, but immortality suits you well."

Nico gave him a half-hearted smile, but couldn't keep the grimace off his face. Every time he talked to Will, he couldn't help but feel an air of awkwardness between the two of them. Yeah, you wouldn't be too keen on your ex-boyfriend dating his first crush because you had died on a suicide quest your father gave you.

"I was pretty surprised when Zeus offered it to everyone," Nico replied, helping Will up from his fallen position.

"I was even more surprised when he brought me and Annabeth back."

At the winter solstice, six months ago, Nico had finally found out what that conversation Poseidon had with Percy at the bottom of the Sound a few weeks prior to his kidnapping. The conversation they had had the day Nico went to visit Sally. Speaking of which, he would need to talk with her sometime soon.

Anyways, Poseidon had somehow managed to convince the entire council to grant the seven (minus Percy), Reyna, Nico, and Will (Nico thought that was his father's suggestion) partial immortality for the time being, and when Percy was found, they'd all become gods – their parent's lieutenants. But when the gods caught drift of Percy's death, they surprisingly upheld their promise, asking their children if they wanted to become gods. No one accepted the gift, instead saying they would want to join Percy in Elysium someday instead of living forever.

"Nico?" Will asked, waving a hand in front of his face.

"Hmm?" Nico blinked twice before realizing that Will had been trying to get his attention, while he had been deep in his own thoughts.

"Did you even hear me?"

"No," he admitted, fingering the shell around his neck subconsciously. It had become a habit of his, one that he felt bittersweet about.

"You're thinking about him again, aren't you?" Will clapped him on the back twice, before he mouthed something to his teammates, leading Nico away to a secluded place not too far off from the beach.

"Yeah." Nico bit the inside of his lip, the awkwardness he usually felt coming in like an impending storm. "But at least I know he's in a better place. That's more than I could've wished for."

Will grimaced, pursing his lips into a fine line as he looked over Nico with his doctoral eyes. It was like he was searching for something Nico was hiding, something he wasn't telling anyone about. But Nico had nothing to hide, so the look made him want to squirm.

Will opened his mouth, paused, and then spoke. "Just…be careful what you wish for, okay?" Will looked him over once more, before running back to the volleyball courts, leaving Nico by himself with a confused look on his face.

"Okay, I guess," Nico mumbled to himself, shrugging off Will's comment. He glanced back at the beach one more time, relishing in the cool breeze the sea brought on this unbearably hot day before finally heading back to his cabin, content with locking himself away from the rest of the world.

* * *

Percy gritted his teeth as Kronos's scythe opened a gash on his upper thigh while Triton continued to relentlessly attack him with the broadsword in his hand, not afraid to hit him with the hilt, then using that momentum to cut him once more. Percy parried a blow to the back of his knee with Riptide, continuing his fluid motion and knocking Triton's left foot out from underneath him, causing the sea prince to lose his balance.

Triton cursed in a language that sounded suspiciously like a dolphin, yet Percy could completely understand him. Had Poseidon heard his eldest son, he'd probably wash his mouth out with a bar of soap.

 _Poseidon._

His name alone was enough to send Percy into a wave of unbridled anger as he suddenly turned into a demon, slashing and hacking at both Kronos and Triton, forcing them on the defensive unless they wanted some very painful wounds inflicted on them. Percy roared, water bursting from the pipes as he shot various water spears and ice daggers as his combatants, aiming for joints that provided vital range of motion: the shoulders, elbows, hips, and knees. He couldn't help but grin when he heard a grunt of pain escape one of their lips, meaning he had landed a blow.

He jumped over Triton's sword – a hit that would've sent him sprawling – before pivoting on his left foot, landing a roundhouse kick to his brother's face just below the eye, where his cheekbone was. The bone broke with a sickening _CRUNCH_ as Triton collapsed to the training room floor, ichor flowing from his cheek and the other wounds he had received during the fight. With Triton out of the equation, all that left for Percy was Kronos.

Percy was bouncing on the balls of his feet, light as a feather, and ready to jump like a coiled spring the second that Kronos would make his move. He observed his Titan mentor, hoping to see anything that he might use as an advantage.

Kronos still looked like Luke, even though he was stronger now than when he was first revived, but Percy had grown accustomed to seeing his old, not friend per say, but cabin mate with molten gold eyes instead of baby blue ones. He had a split lip from when Percy knocked his scythe out of the way in a movement that sent the curved tip against his lips. An ugly bruise was forming on his shin, a few gashes here and there lay scattered on his chest and arms, but the deepest wound he had was by his elbow, where Percy had ducked from defending against Triton, letting his former mentor open the wound while he rolled away, hoping to catch even the slightest reprieve against his relentless trainers.

He barely had a moment to catch his breath before Kronos was diving at him again, nearly severing his arm off. Percy immediately thrust Riptide forward and smiled slightly when he heard a disgruntled sound escape Kronos' lips. After training with the Titan of time for the past few months, he learned some of his patterns, one of which being that he tended to put too much power in his swings, leaving him vulnerable while he brought his arm back to his side.

Percy went on the offensive, going in closer since he had the shorter weapon, and began attacking Kronos' chest relentlessly. Even though both opponents were tiring each other out, Percy knew exactly how he was going to end this battle.

Without a second thought, he waited for Kronos to charge and immediately transformed himself into a puddle, causing for the Titan's momentum to send him flying towards the ground. Percy reformed moments later, and by the time Kronos realized what had happened, Percy had already drew blood.

The previous agreement was to fight until someone yielded, though, so Percy didn't raise his guard yet, cursing at the fact that as he went to place Riptide against Kronos' throat, the Titan kicked his feet out from underneath him. His ears were ringing from the impact as he rolled to the side, the scythe missing him by mere millimeters.

"You've got to be faster," Kronos berated Percy, twirling his scythe in his hand before slamming the butt of the handle into the ground. A few months ago the resulting shockwave would've toppled Percy, but he had learned to anticipate this attack and used the dirt floor to his advantage, using it as a way to anchor his feet.

"Says the Titan of time," Percy muttered out, dislodging his feet from the dirt before charging at Kronos.

The two combatants were still fighting valiantly, completely unaware of the stirring Triton, who was slowly regaining consciousness. Percy had to stifle a devious smile when Kronos overreached on one of his parries, which gave him the opportunity to trip the Titan. He took advantage of Kronos' confusion and swung Riptide down, the tip of the sword entering the Titan's abdomen at last.

Kronos roared out in pain, much to Percy's elation. He continued taking advantage of his wounded opponent, and before Kronos could think about fighting back, Riptide was pointed at the base of his throat.

"Do you yield?" Percy asked Kronos, his grip on the sword being unyielding despite the fact that his chest was heaving up and down from the exertion.

"I would," Kronos began, "if I knew that you had beaten us all."

Percy scrunched his eyebrows together in confusion, but that only lasted for a moment as he heard the sounds of Triton struggling to his feet. He scowled at the sight, because he had thought that the buffoon had been taken care of earlier. Instead of turning his back on Kronos to fight the imbecile that was his ex-trainer, Percy stabbed Kronos higher up on his chest to make sure that he couldn't attack Percy right away.

And seeing that Triton was still regaining his bearings, all Percy had to do was slam Riptide's hilt to the back of Triton's head, and the former sea prince collapsed to the floor again. To make sure that he was fully out of it this time, Percy brought his boot-clad foot down against Triton's jaw, smirking at the sounds that his bones made as they shattered.

"He's pathetic," Percy spat, kicking Triton in the side for good measure before returning back to Kronos, still brandishing Riptide in his hand. "Now, I ask you again, do you yield?"

Much to Percy's surprise, Kronos gave him a beaming smile before bowing his head in defeat. "I yield."

Percy nodded in acknowledgment, capping Riptide as he did and putting the pen back in his pocket. He then proceeded to help Kronos up, fishing out a square of ambrosia from his jacket as he did so.

"You know better, Perseus," Kronos chided him, glaring disdainfully at the small golden square.

Percy simply sighed as he pocketed the ambrosia once more. "Are you sure about this? We both know what happened the last time I tried."

"That's exactly the reason you should be practicing. You'll be on the battlefield soon enough. And who knows when we'll need this ability of yours?"

Percy rolled his eyes at the overdramatic titan but consented to practicing anyways, knowing that if his disobedience somehow got back to Pontus, he'd suffer dearly. See, there were certain rules that ran this place, and despite the fact they no longer applied to him, they were still ingrained in the recess of his brain.

He remembered when he was a lowly foot soldier in the army, disposable for the simplest of missions. Many of those that got sent out with him never made it back alive, but seeing that he had survived all his missions and passed training with flying colors, he moved up the ranks quickly. But so long as he remained lower than the rank of officer, he lived under the strict enforcement of Pontus' rules:

1\. Never question Pontus

2\. Listen to your superiors and don't speak unless spoken to

3\. Never look the generals of Pontus in the eyes and treat them with the utmost respect

4\. Obey the curfew

5\. Do _not_ under any circumstance become a traitor

The consequences for breaking one of the first four rules ranged from having a whipping using Nyx's whip – which was made of pure Night and coated with a venom only she and Chaos have ever heard of – to spending a minimum of a week in Thalassa's personal torture chamber. Gods help you if you somehow ended in the torture chamber of the queen, because not only were you subject to her whim, Pontus would also use you as his personal plaything.

Percy had only seen one person leave Thalassa's torture chamber with their sanity, but the horrors were so scarring that by the same time the following week, they had stabbed themselves in the heart.

While he had never been sent to the torture chamber, he received twenty lashes to his back, because he had accidently looked at Selene in the eyes. The scars were still on Percy's back, but over time, they had faded to a much lighter shade of pink than the angry red flesh they had been when he had first gotten them.

As for the punishment regarding the fifth rule, well, plain and simple, it was death. The condemned traitor would have a very public and very gruesome execution, and seeing that Pontus was one who enjoyed creativity, he somehow managed to make their deaths relate to what they had done.

Percy remembered that a boy – a son of Apollo, if he remembered it correctly – had sent Olympus intel by sending Morse code messages, using his gift to bend light as the method of doing so. When Pontus learned of this, the boy's execution had been by burning him with a highly focused beam of light, but instead of merely burning him at the stake, every message he had sent to Olympus was used against him. So in a series of dots and dashes, Percy watched as the boy's skin charred and blistered over until smoke was coming off his body.

Fortunately for those watching, the boy had died by the end of the first message, so at least the tormenting screams ceased. But Pontus went through with his promise, and every single message was burnt onto the boy's skin. By the end of it, all that was left was a pile of ashes in the middle of the room, smoke still billowing off of it.

"This is what happens to those who turn their back on us!" Pontus had declared, sweeping the ashes away with the heel of his shoe as he did so. "Think twice before turning to those good for nothing Olympians!" Then he would vanish from the room, and his generals would quickly follow suit.

The feeling after executions always left Percy sick to his stomach, almost like he was going to throw up, but he quickly learned to mask the feeling. Nowadays there were new traitors popping up in their midst so frequently that Pontus had to increase their execution schedule from once a week to biweekly.

"Perseus, are you going to do this or not?" Kronos snapped, bringing Percy back to reality.

"Yes," he answered immediately. "I was just preparing myself."

"Well, hurry it up."

"As you wish."

Percy brought over the barrel of water that was used for cleaning off weapons after training and dunked Kronos' hand inside of it. Now, he knew that the water would heal him because he was a son of Pontus, but it would do nothing for Kronos.

"Prove your birthright," Kronos spat, seeing that Percy still hadn't done anything.

"I don't like your tone," Percy fought back, narrowing his eyes.

"If you don't do this right now, I will inform your father. I don't think he'll be too pleased about this, especially if you are to be promoted to lead general."

"Enough of this, Kronos," Percy said through gritted teeth, calling for the water in the barrel to heal the Titan's wounds. He felt the familiar tug in his gut, letting him know that something was happening with the water.

He watched intently as Kronos' skin gradually knitted itself together, something he had only ever seen happen to himself. Percy knew it was too early to celebrate yet, because there was still the matter of closing up the two stab wounds that he had created on Kronos' abdomen and chest.

Slowly the shallower wound on the Titan's abdomen knitted itself shut, but when Percy felt the water touch the chest wound, he hissed in pain. Not only was there resistance from the water to be so close to the heart and lungs, there was no more water in the barrel either, meaning that he had to use water in the air or from himself.

"I-I can't heal the last wound," Percy told Kronos, his arms gradually becoming shakier as he kept trying to force the water to heal him. "There's not enough water left."

"Then use the air," Kronos said, as if this were the easiest thing in the world.

Percy quickly wiped the sweat out of his eyes as he continued to fight the water. It was as if someone had tied his intestines into a knot and was slowly tightening it while someone else was pushing him in the opposite direction of the way the water was supposed to go.

Had this been a fight back on the surface, Percy would have no issue summoning the water in the air to do his bidding, but this was the training room of the generals, gods, Titans, and protogenoi, so of course there was going to be as little help from the environment as possible. For example, the floor wasn't a hundred percent dirt – it was a mixture of sand and gravel and a whole bunch of things so you couldn't solely depend on the earth. There was limited light, no air currents, very limited water, and for other powers, Pontus had installed a dampener.

"You must be able to work under the most dire of circumstances, youngling," Pontus had told him, a hand resting on Percy's shoulder as the two of them gazed down on the bustling arena. During that time, the generals had been training, and it took all of Percy's strength to not flinch at the speed and agility of some of the generals, especially the Titans Selene, Helios, Perses, and Kronos. "And that means training with the dampeners, even if it causes you pain."

"I understand, Father," Percy had replied, bowing his head slightly as a sign of respect. Father or no, Pontus wouldn't hesitate to throw him into his stepmother's torture chamber if he pushed the wrong buttons.

Remembering his father's words, Percy felt an intense burning feeling in his gut as he pulled water from the air, and before it had a chance to rebel against him, he pressed his hand against the Titan's wound, forcing the skin to knit back together whether the water agreed or not. He grit his teeth, ignoring the fact that it felt like his body was about to ignite at any moment and watched as ichor stopped flowing between his fingertips.

Percy removed his hand, checking to make sure that the wound on Kronos' chest had fully healed. Once he was certain that the Titan was no longer bleeding, he immediately took a seat at the foot of the barrel, his chest heaving up and down heavily as he tried to regain his strength.

"Where's your backpack?" he heard Kronos mutter before the Titan took off towards the locker room.

If it wasn't for the fact that this occurred on a daily basis, Percy might've been concerned that he would pass out and be stuck in the arena until someone found him, but he knew Kronos went searching for his backpack for the water bottles that were always there. He had brought two of the six bottles from his backpack down today, but had he known how strenuous today's training would be, he would've brought all six.

Now as to why Percy had taken a liking to bringing water bottles everywhere all of a sudden, well, he wasn't too keen on the idea either until one of his barrack mates had told him, "If water strengthens you, then why don't you carry a water bottle with you at all times?" It made sense, first of all, and second of all, Percy felt stupid for not coming up with that idea in the first place.

Ever since then, it was a miracle if you could catch Percy without some sort of water bottle on his person or nearby. Pontus got so annoyed with him at one point that he had enchanted one of Percy's bottles to transform into a charm that, like Riptide, would always return to his pocket if he misplaced it.

Kronos was already walking back in his direction before Percy could think of his charm anymore, positive that if he kept thinking about it, he would resort to drinking his own sweat (which he knew was gross and actually very unhelpful, but hey, he was desperate).

Percy gratefully accepted the water bottles, taking slow, measured sips at first before downing the entire bottle like he was in some drinking contest. Before he knew it, he finished two other bottles, water still dribbling from his lips from how quickly he drank.

"That," Kronos said, sounding slightly disgusted and awed, "was one of the grossest things I've ever witnessed, and I'm immortal, mind you. Had you been by my side during our reign, you would've been the talk of every party. All Titans respected anyone who could down a glass of nectar in under ten seconds."

"Sorry to disappoint," Percy said sarcastically, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand before standing up. "Not my choice to be born in this day and age."

"Touché. Now, what are we going to do with that disgraced mentor of yours?"

Percy shrugged as he walked over to where Triton lay, nudging the fallen god with the toe of his boot to see if he would stir. Unsurprisingly, Triton didn't even flinch. "We do what we've been doing this whole time," Percy responded, moving to grab the god by the ankles. "We bring him up to Selene."

"She won't be happy to see him again," Kronos said, grabbing Triton's wrists. On the count of three they hoisted him up and began heading towards the infirmary, which for some reason was four floors above the arena. "I've already lost track of how many times we've had to drag his sorry ass to the infirmary this week."

"This is the sixteenth time, if I'm not mistaken. Well, from training anyways. Chaos knows how many times he's gone without either one of us knowing."

"At least he's not as bad as Perses," commented Kronos, the two briefly pausing to adjust their grips before they started moving again.

Percy scoffed. "Oh, if anything, Perses is much worse than this idiot. That guy doesn't know when to keep his head out of other people's business. He's asking to be impaled."

"I agree with you, Perseus. It's a wonder Pontus hasn't thrown him to the Void yet."

Percy shot the Titan a look of confusion, which nearly sent the two tumbling when Kronos looked behind him and Percy continued walking. Seeing the look on Kronos' face, the one that was asking Percy to explain, he said, "That's a little harsh, don't you think? Yes, he's an idiot with an over-inflated ego and has a fuse the size of a grain of rice, but surely no one deserves _that."_

"Why do you defend him? He's hated you from the moment you joined the army, more so now that you're in your new position."

He attempted a shrug, but that was difficult seeing that his arms were currently being used to lug around an unconscious god around a palace at the bottom of the ocean. At least Percy had help so he wasn't dragging Triton around by himself. Thankfully Pontus was up to date with modern day technology, so they'd be able to take an elevator the four floors up instead of taking Triton up the stairs. In that case, Percy and Kronos would've probably each grabbed an arm and simply pulled, uncaring of the new bruises they'd be adding.

"I-I don't know," Percy finally answered truthfully, scowling down at Triton as the god jerked up in his sleep, his kick nearly knocking the wind out of Percy. He was tempted to leave Triton in the elevator just for the fun of it, but he knew that Pontus wouldn't be amused if he did. "It just seems…" he struggled for the right word, before saying, "wrong to leave someone like that. To have your atoms ripped to shreds, without even a semblance of hope that you'd get to come back. What do you think?"

"He's a bastard. He deserves what's coming to him."

Once again, Percy shrugged off the dark tone in Kronos's voice. He didn't see what was so scary about the guy, unless you count being frozen in time or him wielding his scythe (which he still called Backbiter) terrifying. Eh…maybe to others, but not to him anymore.

The moment the two stepped out of the elevator, Percy heard the familiar sound of a wailing siren echoing down the corridors. Guards leapt from their hiding places, charging towards the stairs and other sets of elevators, prepared to flood the briefing room that was eight floors above the one they were currently on.

For the most part, the guards parted around the duo like they were rocks in a rushing river, but two of the guards must've been looking elsewhere, because they ran right into them, causing for Percy and Kronos to unceremoniously drop Triton. The god groaned in pain as Percy swore under his breath.

Kronos on the other hand grabbed the two guards by their armor and slammed them both against the wall, shattering a mirror that had been hanging there in the process. Glass shards littered the floor beneath their feet from the broken mirror, but Percy was more interested in how badly the two guards were shaking in Kronos' grasp.

"How could you be so blind?" Kronos roared in their faces, causing the guard on the left to flinch violently. Percy wouldn't be surprised if the poor guy needed a change of underwear after this encounter. "You're supposed to be alert, not blundering into your generals!"

"W-We're sorry!" the guard on the right whimpered, her voice shaky yet contrite at the same time.

"Did you just talk back to a general?" Percy asked in disbelief, shocked that someone would work up the guts to do such a thing, and to Kronos, no less. Despite the fact that he was now a general, Percy knew what the fear of being inferior was like, terrified that if you made the wrong move you'd end up in a situation much like the one he was currently witnessing.

"I think she did," Kronos answered, his lips contorting into a fierce scowl. "Perseus, you are to deal with these two idiots. And I want _her,"_ – Kronos shook the guard again for good measure, causing for a strangled gasp to escape her lips – "to be in our arena at eight for her punishment. I think fifteen lashes shall do nicely, it'll teach her some respect."

Kronos then dropped the two guards, uncaring if they cut themselves with the broken glass as he proceeded to drag Triton away by himself, muttering curses in Ancient Greek that made Percy want to wash the Titan's mouth out with soap. Percy then turned his attention back to the two guards, watching apathetically as the two seemed on the verge of tears as they hugged each other tightly.

"Get up," he ordered gruffly, holding out a hand for either one of them to take. Once they were both on their feet, he told them to take off their helmets, so he wouldn't send someone innocent to deal with Nyx's whip instead of this girl. "Who are you two?"

These guards were a girl and a boy, and neither looked as if they were older than fourteen. The boy wasn't very tall, but what he lacked in height was made up in muscle. Now, he wasn't like an Ares kid either, but Percy knew he must've been strong if his weapon of choice was a battle axe.

The girl was the boy's exact opposite: tall and lithe. She had a sword at her waist, but Percy had learned everything about concealed weapons and recognized the dog tags around her neck as a concealed bow. Percy also noted the girl's eyes, watching as they changed colors. He was mesmerized by the fact that the color shift wasn't gradual but very extreme, shifting from something as common as brown eyes to all of a sudden being purple like Hecate's eyes.

"I-I'm Olly," the boy stammered out, his eyes glued to the floor, not daring to make eye contact with Percy. "Son of Iris."

"And you?" Percy asked, turning to face the girl.

To his surprise, she spat in his face. "I hope you rot in Tartarus, Jackson!"

At this outburst, Percy simply raised his eyebrows while wiping the spit off his cheek. This wouldn't have been the first time he's been told to go to Tartarus and it certainly wouldn't be the last. Better yet, he always had the comeback that he'd already been there and survived, leaving the person that much angrier at him.

"Don't make this harder on yourself," Olly pleaded with the girl, shaking her arm violently. "I can't deal with that again."

"Quiet!" Percy snapped, watching as Olly shrunk in on himself again. "Olly, you may go to the briefing. Next time, watch where you're going, because that general may not be as merciful as me."

Olly nodded so quickly Percy thought the kid was going to get whiplash. The next thing he knew, Olly was practically running down the corridor towards the elevators, leaving his companion behind to fend for herself.

 _Coward,_ Percy thought to himself. Those were the people on the battlefield you couldn't count on, the ones that left the moment they were safe or that'd sacrifice the safety of others to save themselves.

He turned his attention back to the disrespectful girl, not surprised to find her glaring at him defiantly, staring right into his eyes, unafraid of the consequences. Now, this was the kind of warrior both Pontus and Percy were proud of, the ones with fire gleaming in their eyes. Had she been respectful, Percy would've definitely considered moving her into a more prestigious role in the army than being a mere guard, but she was insubordinate, which must be punished.

"I see that your friend has more sense than you. He knows his place," Percy said sternly, crossing his arms over his chest. He watched as the girl picked out some glass shards from her uncovered skin, unflinchingly taking the same position as him.

"Olly's a coward," she spat venomously, stomping her foot down, breaking some of the glass into even smaller shards. "But his heart's in the right place. As for my place in this damn army, I know very well where I belong, and it's not being a stupid guard, afraid of you generals! So what if you're Titans, gods, and protogenoi? Demigods have kicked your asses once. What makes you think they won't succeed again?"

Percy laughed darkly, shaking his head, amused at this girl's ignorance. "You're so naïve, girl; _I'm_ a demigod. And those assess that have been kicked, well, that was my father who trained me to do that."

"Oh, you've been a warrior since birth, have you? I know the truth, Perseus, and it'd do you well to step down from your oh so mighty throne."

"Enough!" Percy roared, grinning as the girl flinched back, her eyes finally showing some fear shining through. "Bad enough Kronos had already condemned you to the arena tonight. Don't push me to increase the number of lashes. And through this entire conversation, I have yet to receive the answer to my original question. _Who are you?"_

The girl smirked, which sent a wave of anger flooding through Percy's veins. He'd get to release that anger later, because Pontus had clearly called a mission, and he was ready to be on the front lines.

"I'm Erica, daughter of Ariana."

* * *

Erica sighed in relief the moment the doors to her barrack closed. She slid to the floor, ignoring the burning ache in her back and the blood soaking through her clothes. Then came the familiar sound of the bugle playing "Taps" over the speakers. That was the song that signaled curfew, and "Reveille" was the song that woke them up in the mornings.

As the song played, she held the dog tags around her neck tightly, murmuring the words of the poem silently to herself. While many of her comrades didn't care about the song other than letting them know to get in their beds, it meant the world to her, because this was the last song played at her father's funeral before they lowered the casket into the ground.

He had died while he was Syria, but before he died from the two shots to the stomach, he somehow managed to save the rest of his squad. That's what Thomas, her father's best friend, had told her anyways. He also mentioned that her father had been glowing, but seeing that he had been knocked unconscious by a gas bomb, he told Erica that he was probably hallucinating.

She would've thought so too, if it wasn't for the fact that she was well aware of her mother's affection for her father and her kindness. She knew that Ariana would allow her father to live a few moments more if it was for the greater good. On the flip side, Erica knew her mother wouldn't have saved her father, because gods weren't supposed to interfere with death.

And despite the fact that Erica should've hated Ariana, giving her a valid reason to being in Pontus' army, she had accepted the fact that the Fates cut her father's string and moved on with her life. Ariana even sent a satyr to lead the then ten year old to Camp Half-Blood, and she's spent the last five years training to be a warrior.

Erica knew Percy, well, knew of him before everything went to Tartarus. She saw him a few times around camp after the Titan and Giant wars, but seeing that she was lumped together with the Iris kids and was too shy to talk to him, she never introduced herself. But she saw what Percy used to be like before these monsters kidnapped him and corrupted his mind.

A gruff voice shouting, "Shut up, maggots! Go to sleep!" broke Erica out of her thoughts. Once the humming of electricity ceased, she knew that the warden was officially out of it. Thank the gods that this warden was such a heavy sleeper, because it made it that much easier to communicate with her barrack mates.

Olly was the first one out of his bunk, reaching underneath his bed and grabbing a stool before motioning for Erica to take her shirt off. It had become accepted amongst the barrack that Olly was to be the one in charge of bandaging everyone's back after a whipping, and in the rare event that he's hurt, the daughter of Asclepius, Joy, was to bandage Olly's back.

"You need to learn to control your tongue," Olly scolded her. "This is going to hurt."

Erica bit into a pillow to keep from screaming out as Olly disinfected the long, angry marks that would forever scar her back. She was aware that she should learn to control her temper, but it simply outraged her that something as nominal as a title would make her less of a person than anyone else.

She was so caught up in her fuming that she didn't realize Olly was done bandaging her back until he said, "Finished."

"Thanks," Erica replied, looking down at the white cloth that now covered her torso. "So, whose turn is it to report back?"

"Yours," Olly replied as he quickly stashed the roll of bandages and disinfectant under his mattress. "And be quick about it. I'm afraid that Pontus is catching drift of how many of us there are."

Erica whirled around quickly, violently shushing Olly and watching as some of the people in the barracks glared daggers at the young boy. He whimpered in fear and shoved his face into a pillow to avoid all the glares.

"There might be cameras or microphones in here, Oliver!" Joy reminded him before returning back to polishing her dagger. "One word too many, and we're all dead."

"I get it," Olly said quietly, pulling his covers over his face in an attempt to hide.

"Alright, I think he understands," Erica said, her voice daring for someone else to make the son of Iris feel bad again. "It's my turn, okay? Everyone get some shut eye. Gods knows when we'll be forced to wake up tomorrow."

Soon Erica was the only one left awake, the sound of people breathing and snoring finally being loud enough to mask her voice. Luckily for her, every demigod in this barrack was a spy for the Olympians, so even if one of them heard her talking, they wouldn't rat her out. She reached for the watch around her wrist, checked to make sure that the warden was still fast asleep, and flipped open the face, revealing a little device that worked like a two-way radio.

"Chiron, are you there?" she whispered quietly. "I've got news regarding Percy Jackson."


	3. Chapter 2

Nico had a rude awakening that night. He actually had been getting a good night's rest, a rarity for him, and the next thing he knew, he was being dragged by the ankles from his bed. As if that wasn't abrupt enough, Annabeth kept pulling, which caused for his head to hit the floor hard enough for a dull ache to form. She took him outside, dragging him across the grass until Nico finally came to his senses, kicking his legs out of her grip.

"What gives?" Nico complained, getting off the floor, annoyed that he could feel the wetness of the grass seeping through his pajamas.

"Chiron wanted to speak with all the immortal demigods," Annabeth supplied, reaching over to brush some mud off his shoulder.

"You couldn't wake me up any other way?" he asked venomously, still miffed that his dreamless sleep had been interrupted.

"Don't you think I tried to be gentle?" Annabeth rolled her eyes, reached for Nico's wrists, and began dragging him once more in the direction of the Big House. "If you don't wake up on your own di Angelo, I swear I will drag you there myself whether you like it or not."

"I'm up, I'm up." Nico ripped his hands away from Annabeth's grip, rubbing them to sooth the burning he felt on his skin. Her grip had been vice-like, and it clearly didn't agree with his skin seeing that there were red hands on the skin around his wrists, vastly contrasting from his olive skin. "What could be so urgent that Chiron wants us at this ungodly hour?"

"If I knew that, we wouldn't be in this situation! Come on, slowpoke."

Nico begrudgingly followed Annabeth to the Big House, muttering about night owls and only concentrating on his feet enough so that he wouldn't stumble. Once the two entered the Big House, he was in sensory overload, overwhelmed by the sounds of campers shouting over one another and the blaring music playing in the background.

Hadn't Annabeth said Chiron summoned the immortal campers only? But when he turned to look at Annabeth, he noticed that she was just as confused as he was, watching the dancing teenagers fill up the first floor. As if the music wasn't enough, Nico could smell the distinct smell of wine in the air, and seeing that many people had red cups in their hands, he knew alcohol was the drink of choice. That left him wondering as to how in Hera's name these kids got their hands on alcohol, but Annabeth motioned upstairs, breaking him out of his thoughts.

"He said he's in his office," Annabeth all but shouted at Nico, gesturing towards one of the doors.

As Nico went to respond, he heard someone from downstairs screaming, "Put Seymour back on the wall!" Oh well.

The two quickly entered Chiron's office, immediately shutting the door behind them as soon as they were both in. It took a few moments for the ringing in Nico's ears to subside, leaving him questioning as to why people nowadays found it so enjoyable to suffer from permanent hearing damage for something as trivial as a party.

"Sorry for the wakeup call," Annabeth apologized, moving to take a seat next to Bianca, who was here for some reason unknown to Nico. "According to Chiron, it's extremely urgent."

"It better not be an invite to the party going on downstairs," Nico said darkly, still wishing that he was in his bed right now.

"Party?" Chiron chimed in from his wheelchair. "What party?"

"You don't hear the music?" Will Solace asked incredulously. "Seriously, it's a wonder that the campers down there haven't gone deaf yet."

"I knew that music was too loud!" Nico exclaimed, glad to hear someone else agree with him.

"Of course it's too loud for you, old man," Leo joked. Nico knew Leo regretted that joke immediately, because both Hazel and Reyna jabbed him in the ribs with their elbows. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry!"

Nico took that time to survey over the room, wanting to see who was in here. Will, Chiron, and Annabeth were in here of course, and next to Annabeth, Bianca was carving something into her bow with a small knife. Jason and Piper were sitting on one of the couches, their hands intertwined and resting in Piper's lap. Frank, Reyna, Hazel, Calypso and Leo were all sitting on the carpet in front of Chiron's desk.

The last five people in the room made Nico realize the gravity of the situation. If Frank, Hazel and Reyna were here from Camp Jupiter and Calypso and Leo were back from gods knows where, things must've been dire.

"Good, you're all present," Chiron announced, his tone much lighter than Nico had grown accustomed to. The old centaur was even giving them a genuine smile, something Nico hadn't seen in ages.

"But it's two in the morning!" Hazel exclaimed, biting her lip afterwards in embarrassment from her outburst. Nico looked at her in shock. "Sorry, I haven't gotten much sleep recently."

"Wow Haze, you just got sassy!" Leo said mischievously, smirking. Calypso smacked his arm affectionately, but just sighed at his antics.

"Ms. Levesque, Mr. Valdez, let's please focus on the matter at hand. Thank you."

"Sorry, Chiron," they both apologized.

"That's quite all right, dears, it's late. Now, this has been something I have been sworn to secrecy ever since I found about it almost two millennia ago."

Nico watched as Annabeth's eyes nearly bulged out of her head. "You've _never_ kept secrets from me. Even during the Titan and Giant war you told me everything, minus the Camp Jupiter thing!"

"Annabeth, realize that there are many things I'm forbidden to talk about. Those are one of the setbacks of being immortal, but all these secrets are for the betterment of everyone."

"Sure," Annabeth scoffed, impatiently tapping her fingers against the arm of the couch she was sitting in.

Chiron rolled his eyes at her behavior, but Nico knew Chiron was like a father to Annabeth, and she hated being kept in the dark about anything. He remembered when a few years ago she had come back from a mission with mud painted over her eyelids and began grilling Chiron on everything he knew about Egypt. He had no idea what that was about.

"So, why'd you call us here?" Nico asked, moving to lean against the wall, unless he wanted to fall asleep in a seat. The last time he had been in a meeting in the middle of the night, he had started to doze off five minutes in, and by the eight minute mark he was completely out of it. Clarisse had had to scream in his ear to finally wake him up.

"I was about to get that," Chiron told them all, before running a hand through his graying hair. "The Olympians have always had a small special ops force that work undercover for them during exceedingly dangerous times, such as the war with Kronos."

"And how come we've never heard of them before?" Reyna asked, scowling slightly as she picked at the carpet.

"When I say small, I mean about ten demigods strong. They are typically children of minor gods and goddesses, as they can slip in through most situations virtually undetected until the damage is done. On Olympus, there have been rumors of another Primordial having awoken around the time of Gaea's rising, and that they're recruiting demigods and demi-titans to their cause."

There was a collective groan at that. They were just about to make it to the two year mark of not having to fight in a war for the Olympians, but now it appeared like they were going to fight again.

Nico wanted to go bash his head into a wall. He had been in wars his entire life: he was alive during World War II, he was twelve when he was fighting against Kronos, and he was fourteen when he was fighting against Gaea. The only time he could truly claim he had been at peace was when he was in the Lotus Hotel and Casino, where he was basically mind-controlled to not have a care in the world and play fun games as seventy years in the real world rushed by in what seemed to be only months.

"And now the Olympians want us to fight?" Piper asked from her seat on the couch. "We're not restrained by the Ancient Laws as we're only partially immortal, but are they really going to send us to the front lines?"

"I hope not," Will said. "I'm still a healer, not a fighter. Put me on the front lines, and I'll be in Elysium again before you can say 'Charge.'"

Chiron grimaced at the fact that Will had again, emphasizing the fact that he and Annabeth _had_ died before, and now they were supposed to put their necks on the line again. Well, they had all put their lines on the neck before, Nico thought, so how was this time supposed to be any different?

"Slowly," Chiron continued, "the ops entered the enemy's army, but no one knows how or where they are. As you all know, we've heard rumors about…" Chiron faltered, glancing upwards at Nico, as if scared of his reaction to the news.

"Out with it, Chiron," Nico said sternly, tilting his head back against the wall, looking at the ceiling.

"There's no easy way to put this. Maybe I should discuss this with-"

" _Chiron,"_ Annabeth chided, cutting off the centaur's rambling. "Whatever you have to say, you can trust us. _All_ of us."

Nico watched as Chiron fiddled with the ends of the blanket that was resting across his lap, his face showing nothing short of pure mortification. What was he so afraid of? It obviously wasn't this new enemy that was making the old centaur quake in his wheelchair. It took Nico a moment to notice that Chiron had absolutely refused to meet his gaze, never looking higher than Nico's shoulders.

 _He's afraid of me?_ Nico thought to himself. _I wouldn't hurt Chiron. Why is he so afraid to tell me this?_

Chiron cleared his throat, before finally uttering the words, "We have gotten confirmation that Percy…Percy's alive."

* * *

He ran deeper into the forest, not wanting to hear another word Chiron had to say. There was absolutely no way that Perseus Jackson was still alive and walking this earth. At least, not without being immortal, that is.

Nico had completely zoned out after Chiron said Percy was alive, ignoring the cheers that his friends gave, numbly getting pushed around as everyone hugged each other. Because while the others were celebrating, he knew that the shoe had yet to drop.

If he was truly alive, then why hadn't he contacted either one of the camps? Why hadn't he spoken a word to his mother? Why hadn't he come back to Nico?

That thought process was what led Nico believe that something must've been seriously wrong with Percy. His fatal flaw was loyalty, and every time that he nearly got himself killed, the first thing he did was alert someone that he was still alive. Even if it was something as simple as a phone call, he let someone know.

Then came the dreaded words, "He's been brainwashed," which caused for all the newfound joy to vanish from the room as quickly as it appeared. Nico had sunk to the floor in shock, staring absentmindedly out the window, observing the torches from his cabin flickering like bright green fireflies hovering in place. It was a technique of his that he had learned ages ago to prevent from crying in the midst of other people.

Bianca had immediately taken a spot on the floor next to him, wrapping her arms like a protective cocoon around him. He placed his head on her shoulder, steadying his breathing and smelling the familiar scent of the forest lingering on Bianca's parka. That gave him the idea to shadow travel to the forest, where he knew he'd be uninterrupted in his grief.

He finally found the small clearing Will had shown him while the two were dating, a secluded place in the woods that was close enough to see many of the cabins without being seen by other campers. Nico fell to his knees and allowed for a scream to tear itself from his throat, which succeeded in frightening away the small woodland creatures that were nearby.

And he screamed and screamed and screamed until it physically hurt him to breathe from how raw his throat was. Nico refused to cry over this. A small part of him had always hoped that he'd be reunited with Percy again, but never in a million years did he think it was going to be like this. He never thought he would have to face Percy on opposite sides of the battlefield.

What if he had to…to _kill_ Percy? Would he even have the strength to do that, to sheath his sword inside the body of the boy he was so madly in love with? Would he watch as the life slowly faded from those sea green eyes, holding him as his body went limp in Nico's arms?

Ignoring the searing pain in his throat, Nico screamed at the top of his lungs once more, cringing as it sounded like someone had been getting brutally murdered. He afterwards collapsed to the forest floor, his chest heaving up and down as he tried to catch his breath. The few tears that landed on his cheek were from his body's reaction to the pain, trying to moisten his dried out airway.

Nico relished the feeling of the cold, damp grass on his skin. It was probably the only thing grounding him to reality right now, preventing him from going into a full blown panic attack. He dug his fingers into the grass, pulling tightly, watching as his hands ripped out clump after clump of grass.

He stopped pretty soon, because he knew that a dryad would probably come out to scream at him for ruining her clearing. Exhausted from his emotional breakdown, Nico relaxed his tense muscles, feeling all that pent up anxiety slowly drain out of him.

The next thing Nico knew, his eyes were drooping shut, and all he was hoping for was a chance to see Percy in his dreams.

* * *

Vicky pressed her body tightly against the wall of the Big House, because she was _not_ going to be caught spying on the immortal demigods. Her ticket into the Big House had been far too easy for her liking, seeing as all she had to do was waltz in the front door and act like one of the drunk teens. To be honest, she nearly knocked out a few teeth from this one son of Nemesis who couldn't take a hint, but she restrained herself and made her way to the second floor.

Taking note of where Chiron's office was, Vicky ducked into the closet that was across the way and strained her ears to hear. But the music from downstairs was far too loud, so she left the safety of the closet, planted a mic at the bottom of the door, and went back to the closet, pulling out her earpiece from her jacket as she did so.

"Percy's alive," towards the end she heard Chiron say, causing for her to bite back a curse.

He was Pontus' most guarded secret, and the fact that the gods were aware of him, well, that didn't bode well for them. Vicky also realized this meant that there was a traitor amongst them – not that that was too uncommon – and that they were spilling all of the army's secrets to the gods.

At exactly that moment, Vicky felt her watch begin to vibrate, signaling an incoming call from one of the generals. She muffled the sounds with her hand and dashed back towards her cabin. She didn't have to worry about anyone catching her, because she was the only one living in the Poseidon cabin (no one saw any point in building a cabin for Triton's children).

"What took you so long?" her favorite general asked, his voice questioning but not as cold as it could've been.

"I was spying, milord," Vicky replied.

"And…?"

She swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat, terrified of what his response was going to be. "Um, I actually think this is something that we should discuss in person, milord."

The general she was talking to chuckled in amusement. "That serious, eh? Meet me in Central Park in half an hour."

"I'll see you there, milord."

With that Vicky hit the button on the side of her watch, making sure that it stayed on vibrate mode. Central Park wasn't exactly the closest place to camp, so she made her way towards the Pegasi stables, only barely getting caught by one of the kids on guard duty.

Thankfully being a daughter of Triton allowed her to communicate with horses, because technically her grandfather was Poseidon. The stables were never a fun place to be at night, especially since their wings cast eerie shadows on the wall and the stinking stench of damp hay was enough to make anyone dizzy.

Vicky quickly found her favorite Pegasus, a black-maned beauty whose name was Blackjack. He had told her that Percy used to be his owner, and that he was indebted to him for saving his life years ago. Once Vicky had revealed her heritage as a daughter of Triton, the Pegasus took fondly to her, becoming the most loyal of friends to her.

She caught Blackjack's attention by waving a donut in his general direction. Vicky had never seen a Pegasus jump to alertness so quickly.

" _Sup, little boss?"_ he asked, before greedily gobbling down the donut she had tossed to him.

"How do you feel about some late night flying?"

 _"_ _Hey, you just gave me a donut. I'd let you braid my hair like Twilight Sparkles if it means getting more donuts."_

Vicky stifled a snort, imagining Blackjack's mane braided with glittery purple extensions, as if the Aphrodite children had given him a makeover. She grabbed a nearby stool and mounted onto Blackjack's back.

"We've got a mission in Central Park," she told Blackjack, patting him gently. "I promise I'll sang you some more donuts later."

 _"_ _It's a deal, little boss!"_

And with that, the duo took off from the stables, heading towards Central Park.

* * *

Annabeth was contemplating whether she wanted to throw the book in her hands directly into the wall right next to Chiron's head or simply shout at him at the top of her lungs. Thankfully for the old centaur, she did neither one of those things and instead curled her nails into her clenched palms until they started to throb.

After Nico had run out of Chiron's office, Bianca and Jason ran off to find him leaving everyone else to deal with the aftermath. Despite the fact that everyone in the room were friends with one another, no one spoke louder than a whisper, making Annabeth feel as if she were currently in a public library with a stuck up librarian.

"Enough!" Annabeth shouted, vexed at how they were acting. "For gods' sakes, we've been at war before to save our parents, but now when it's our friend at stake, we're going to coward away? We all know that's not what Percy would've wanted, so why are we going to cower away from this fight?"

Leo raised his hand, acting like a child in primary school. "Annie, if you don't remember, Percy's powerful enough to fight gods. Like, actual mother freaking beings older than the Olympians, and he's _won._ He'll kick our asses like we're five year olds."

"I hate agreeing with Leo," Frank mumbled, shooting the Latino a glare as Leo beamed, "but he's right, Annabeth. How are we supposed to stand up against Percy?"

Annabeth groaned and rolled her eyes. "Remind me to work on my pep talks in the future. Listen, I'm not sure about how massive this war is going to be, and yes, there may be a possibility where one of us will have to fight Percy. So, what _are_ we going to do?" Annabeth smiled knowingly, meeting Chiron's gaze and having a silent agreement between the two of them.

"I don't like that look," Piper said warily, her eyes darting back and forth between Annabeth and Chiron.

"We train!" exclaimed Annabeth, causing for many in the room – cough, Leo, cough – to groan loudly. "We train hard and frequently, and I guarantee you we'll be able to stand up to Percy."

"You're insane," Will scoffed, getting up from his seat. "Annabeth, don't forget you and I have already died before, yet you seem persistent in throwing yourself into death's grasps again. Don't you remember what it feels like to die?"

Annabeth's smile melted off her face as she gave Will a steely glare cold enough to freeze the Styx over. Once the son of Apollo cowered back into his seat, she turned to see that her friends had been fearfully watching the exchange, like she was going to break Will. She sighed, knowing that now that her death had been brought up, they would be fighting harder to keep her away from the front lines.

"I'd like to talk to Chiron," Annabeth asked quietly. And when no one made the motion to leave, she added, "Alone, please."

Annabeth shut the door behind Hazel, and seeing that she had been the last one in the room, she then locked the door, leaving her and Chiron alone in his office. Annabeth moved towards the bookshelf in the back of the room, the one filled with Chiron's mythology and Latin textbooks he had brought back from his adventures as posing as teachers in various schools to recruit potential demigods. Her fingers brushed one of the textbooks, and out of sheer curiosity, she pulled it out and opened the front cover, only to find out that the person who had been issued that book was none other than Perseus Jackson.

"You found his book," Chiron said, wheeling himself closer to her. "Yes, I tend to keep the books of students that eventually made their way here."

Annabeth knew many of Chiron's tokens had a sentimental value to him, so having Percy's textbook was no surprise to her. Her eyes then fell on all the Ancient Greek letters and names littered around the cover and the first page, causing for her to scoff in amusement. She handed Chiron the book back and pointed out Percy's doodles.

"Even with all this evidence, you didn't know he was a demigod until May?"

"Well, I knew he was a demigod, but we had no clue as to who his father was."

"Speaking of fathers," Annabeth said, "how's Poseidon holding up right now?"

"To tell you the truth, I'm not sure. No one seen or heard from him in the past six months."

It didn't take much for Annabeth's mind to connect the dots, sending goosebumps down her spine. The last time a god or goddess had gone missing was the whole Hera fiasco, but a mere two years before that, Artemis had been kidnapped, too. If that was any pattern to go by, it seemed like their enemies always took great joy from kidnapping one of the Olympians. And should the enemy be holding Poseidon captive…gods knows what he'd do, especially since he'd be witnessing a brainwashed Percy Jackson firsthand.

"Chiron, when you mean Percy's brainwashed, just how brainwashed are we talking about? Was he told to hate blue food, or something like that?"

Chiron's expression darkened. Annabeth's unease only grew when a song with a foreboding melody began to play, the bass thumping through the walls. He looked into his lap and began to fiddle with the ends of the blanket resting there.

"Annabeth, the truth is Soul Switch magic is some of the most potent magic in all the realms, including those of other gods."

"Like the E-"

"Don't mention your magician friends' gods, or else they'll be brought into this too. The same goes for your cousin."

Annabeth wanted to know how in Hades Chiron knew about Carter, Sadie, and Magnus seeing as she had never told him about them, but now was not the time or place to be discussing other pantheons. She instead took her seat on the couch again and waited for Chiron to continue his story.

"Anyhow, this magic is very, very ancient and extremely taboo as well. Millennia ago, all of the scrolls containing the information on this were burned, and the Greeks slaughtered those who they believed had the spell memorized. Multiple gods subjected themselves to the River Lethe in an attempt to erase the spell's existence in the first place. But there was one being who not even the Lethe can affect: Mnemosyne, the Titaness of Memory. She was doomed to remember everything she saw or heard, and one day, she wrote down the spell.

"After many centuries, that scroll ended up in my hands, and I burned it. I then went to Lady Mnemosyne herself and had my memory of the spell wiped. But seeing as I hadn't the slightest idea of who had seen the scroll before me, even after Lady Mnemosyne and the naiad from the Lethe wiped the memory of all in the Greek Empire, there were written accounts of the spell. Somehow our enemy got ahold of one of these scrolls and were able to use it on Percy."

"You still haven't answered my question," Annabeth reminded him.

"All in good time, dear. Now, we also know Kronos was affected by Soul Switch magic recently, making him act benevolent towards demigods and hostile every time an evil Titan's name was mentioned. Let's assume that since he's no longer at Camp Jupiter, he's back with his master and has been returned to normal via a second dose of the magic. Seeing the effects first hand, Annabeth, it's safe to assume that the Percy commanding the enemy army is not the same Percy who you fought with for all these years. He will be his exact opposite: cruel and unforgiving, absolutely thrilled with the idea of possible bloodshed. I can imagine how he's become accustomed to witnessing gruesome accounts of torture and then applying these tactics in battle. Do you see the pattern, Annabeth? He will be a killing machine, and _that's_ why the others are so terrified of fighting Percy, not only because of the prospect of fighting someone who was once willing to die for them."

Annabeth sat in silence, slowly digesting the overwhelming amount of information Chiron had just given her. Fighting against someone who's had your back for years was never easy, and Luke was a perfect example of that. But it pained Annabeth much more to have to fight Percy, because they had once been in love. They had been a couple, and things between them were exactly like the messy fairytale Annabeth had hoped for when she was younger, before she became more independent.

And while she could accept the fact Percy had moved onto a certain raven-haired son of Hades, she could admit that it stung a little, and possibly having to permanently him terrified her. Love was something she wished could be more controlled, because she still loved Percy with all her heart, and for that very reason, she had kept her mouth shut, not mentioning a word to anyone.

Now that she only had her friends to care for her, Annabeth steeled herself for what she was about to ask Chiron.

"Chiron, how do I become one of those special ops?"


	4. Chapter 3

Percy was pacing back and forth in front of his father's chamber, his hands constantly fiddling with the new watch he had been given earlier in the day. When he had gotten it, everything was perfectly set up, but now after being subjected to Percy's nervous ticks, he somehow got his watch to be depicting everything in Spanish.

While Pontus may have been Percy's father, that did not mean he was safe from his wrath or that he was a loving parent. Pontus's love was harsh, based on Percy's ability to succeed. On days where Percy excelled during his training, he would be met with an affirmative nod, and if he was lucky, the occasional praise. When he did badly, well, let's say Percy knew all the best hiding spots in the castle, but he also knew how to take the demoralizing criticism without so much as flinching.

As the bell rang from within the chamber, Percy ceased his pacing and took his place in front of the doors, waiting for the second bell to let him enter. The second bell rang, and he pushed the doors open wide enough for him to enter before immediately shutting them. Sure, there were guards both inside and outside of these chamber doors, but it was merely a precaution.

"Do come in, son," Pontus called out, his head peeking out from the doorway which led to his private study. No one was allowed in there without permission, so the fact that Pontus was allowing for him to enter one of the most infamous rooms in the castle was enough for Percy to nearly breakout in a cold sweat.

On his feet's own accord, Percy made his way into his father's study and took a seat on one of the plush sofas. They were made of a rich blue velvet, and thankfully for Percy, running his hand over the fabric managed to calm his racing mind. He waited as Pontus took deliberate movements for locking the door behind them and taking his own seat in the study, casually grabbing a book chockful of maps before taking a seat across from Percy.

"So," Pontus began, calmly flipping through the book as he spoke. "You requested to meet with me?"

"Yes, Father," Percy replied automatically."

"How strange, you've never been one to discuss such matters in private. What seems to be the problem?"

Percy swallowed the lump of fear that had built up in his throat. "We have an infestation amongst our ranks, Father. Olympus has these special ops, about ten demigods strong, that are currently in our midst, spilling valuable information back to those blasted Olympians."

Pontus froze in mid page flip, his lips contorting into something between a sneer and a grimace. He then slammed the book down onto his desk, causing for Percy to flinch in his seat. He hated watching Pontus' temper burst, and he would prefer to not be the only one in the room with his hot-headed father when he inevitably started blowing stuff up.

Amazingly, Percy watched as Pontus regained his cool and fixed the covering on his book like it was the most normal thing in the world to nearly destroy everything and come back. Percy continued to keep quiet, the only sound in the room being his hand moving over the velvet.

"Perseus," – oh no, full name – "You know why you are my child, correct?"

Percy's face turned a brilliant shade of crimson red. "I-um, I've already had this conversation with Selene, please don't make me relive it." Percy stopped to cringe. "She had diagrams and models that were way too realistic for my liking, and then Perses got involved…"

"Enough of that," Pontus said, his face showing the same amount of discomfort Percy felt. "No, I mean why out of every single person in this army, you are my child."

"I-I don't understand. You're my father, so that means you slept with my mother. Unless I'm mistaken?" Percy added, his thoughts whizzing around his mind at a million miles an hour. Selene had been very, _very_ clear in her explanation, so unless there was another way babies were made, Percy had no idea what Pontus meant.

Pontus sighed softly before reaching into his desk and pulling out what may have been the most elegant book Percy had ever seen. The cover itself was absolutely mesmerizing what with its constant shift in blue hues, appearing as if it was a reflection of the sky, matching up to what was going on the surface. The rest of the cover was awash with gold and silver designs drawn onto it, depicting images of the past that appeared to realistic, it felt as if Percy could touch them.

There was good reason for this book to be so ornately designed, especially since it held spells that were eons old as well as containing the generals' most well-guarded secret: the Looking Glass. While it was nothing like the one talked about in the tales of old – that would be Aphrodite's mirror – this one was exponentially more powerful, allowing for the seer to search for any object in any realm, including Tartarus and Olympus, as well as allowing for the seer to look into the past, something only Prometheus could do.

And if Pontus pulled out the Book of Golden Days, that meant something life-altering was about to go down.

"Father?" Percy asked warily. "What's going on?"

"Perhaps it's better if I simply show you. Shall we?" Pontus held his hand out towards Percy, inviting him to gaze into the past with him. Swallowing his fear, Percy clasped his father's hand and shut his eyes, the force of the vision shutting out anything else until all he could feel was the hand holding his own.

* * *

"Nico!" Will shouted from outside, pounding his fist on the door. "I know you're in there!"

Nico simply pulled his cocoon of sheets tighter around him, wishing that they would be a better shield from the outside world. He wanted nothing more than to drown in the black fabrics, forgetting about everything that was going on past the threshold of his cabin door. Maybe if he stayed in his bed long enough, Will, and the rest of the world, would leave him alone.

But Tyche, the goddess of luck, had never favored him, and the next thing he knew, something had been lobbed through his window, leaving sparkling pieces of the shattered glass glimmering on the floor. All of the light from the window began to filter through his black curtains, causing him to shut his eyes in pain. How long had it been since he had turned on the lights? Three days, maybe four?

Nico ignored the rock that was in the middle of the glass and instead threw the sheets over his head again and snuggled further into his bed so that his back was facing the broken window. He heard someone mutter out a string of curse words that would make any good parent wash their mouth out with soap until finally they had gotten into his cabin.

"Go away," Nico mumbled in protest. He wasn't in the mood for Will to watch him eat.

"Too late, Death Breath, already in here," Will replied cheerily. He then shouted, "Hey, Grace! Get over here!" which caused Nico to flinch at the loud noise.

"Did you seriously just call Jason?" he asked, sitting up in his bed to glare at the overly chipper son of Apollo. "Will, I'm immortal. I can't die o-"

"You stop it right there, mister. I'm immortal too, and we both know that if you waste away from not eating, you will die anyways."

Nico rolled his eyes and slumped against the headboard of his bed, bemoaning the fact that Will Solace, like always, was right. And as expected, Jason eventually made an appearance too, showing up with a plate full of food from the dining pavilion as well as a broom and dustpan to clean up the glass.

"When I saw Will through the window," Jason said, explaining how he knew to bring a broom and dustpan in the first place, "I figured he pulled a Stoll move and went in through the window."

"You know I was the one that gave the Stolls that tip," Will said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck in embarrassment.

"Good going, Sunny Boy," Nico scoffed, poking at the piece of French toast with his fork as if he were expecting it to suddenly come alive.

"Oh, like you were any better," Will remarked, taking a seat at the foot of Nico's bed. "You gave them the idea of dressing Zeus' statue like a hippie from the 60's, got them to burn down the roof of the Demeter cabin _at least_ five times, and suggested that they paint Chiron's hooves while braiding his hair to look like a My Little Pony!"

Jason's jaw dropped. " _You_ were the one to tell them to dress my dad like a hippie? Never in a million years would I have guessed that."

Nico shrunk in on himself. "That was when I first got here, when I was ten. They seemed like fun guys at the time, so forgive my past self for giving them so many awful ideas. Trust me, the second I saw the smoke coming from the Demeter cabin, I regretted opening my mouth immediately."

As Will went to retort, probably to poke fun at Nico's naivety, the all too familiar sound of a hunting horn was blown, causing for the three boys to rush to the window. At a later date, Nico would thank Jason for cleaning up the glass that had been on the floor, but when his eyes were focusing at the warrior clad in nothing but silver and sapphire armor, the glass was the last thing on his mind.

"We've got to go," Nico said solemnly, turning to grab his sword off his dresser.

"You're not going anywhere," Will protested, blocking the doorknob. Jason, understanding Will's concern, moved in front of the window so he couldn't throw himself out of it either. "You haven't eaten in over four days, Nico. You are in no condition to be fighting a warrior in armor up to their teeth."

But seeing that Nico was Nico and he wasn't going to sit out a battle, he simply dissolved into the shadows, leaving behind two incredibly pissed off blondes in the Hades cabin.

* * *

She stalked forward, her heart beating out of her chest as she continued to walk through the camp in the direction of the Big House. Her general had told her that it was time for her to return home, but before that was possible, she had to bring back two people that would be vital for their advancement. She had yet to fail a mission, so there was no possible way she was going to mess this up now.

It was going too easily in her opinion, seeing that the alarm hadn't been sounded until she was passing the cabins, which were only a five minutes' walk from the Big House. She could easily run the distance in under a minute, but the suit of armor she was commanded to wear was four sizes too big for her, leaving her walking around like a possessed robot.

" _It's to make you appear more intimidating,"_ he had instructed her. " _But if it gets to where you need to fight, there's a button on the inside of the chest piece that will make the suit adjust to your size."_

Sure enough, the first wave of demigods approached with their weapons in hand, resulting in her having to push the button after a couple of seconds. If someone pushed her to the ground that would've been the end of her right then and there, and that wasn't a chance she was willing to make. The suit of armor shrunk so it was to her size, and with it came the broadsword strapped onto her back.

She unsheathed it and began to fight like a hurricane, careful only to maim in non-lethal areas. Sure, there'd probably be one or two demigods she had accidentally cut too deep, but she was trying to minimalize deaths, not casualties.

Finally, her first goal showed up, swaying slightly on his feet as he was violently thrown from the shadow of a nearby tree. Probably a dryad who was in no mood to be used as a destination from shadow traveling.

"I've got you now, Nico di Angelo," she told herself quietly, turning around to parry a blow while sweeping someone off their feet. One down, one more to go.

* * *

"Give it a second, Perseus. Your eyes will adjust, I promise."

After a few seconds, the heavy feeling that had been weighing against Percy's eyelids finally ceased, allowing for him to open his eyes and see what was going on. The duo were clearly in the past. He could tell since the palace was still undergoing renovations for more modern advantages, such as having electrical lighting and functioning elevators.

Percy saw as the doors to the infirmary burst open while his limp body was in the arms of Erebus. He couldn't help but wince when he saw himself. There was blood gushing in a torrent from his nose and mouths, and while he struggled to breathe, there were bubbles that would inflate and promptly burst by his nostrils. The skin around his wrists and ankles were an angry red, suggesting that he had been chained up as a prisoner at one point. Percy watched on with a mixture of interest and horror – mostly horror – as Selene cut off his shirt, revealing his heavily bruised chest, making him believe that he was suffering from some broken ribs or a collapsed lung.

"What happened?" Percy asked, terror creeping into his voice.

"This is how we found you after you were abandoned," Pontus explained solemnly, placing a grounding hand onto Percy's shoulder. "You were chained to a marble pillar like an animal being sent to slaughter while your body deteriorated in front of your friends' eyes. Your birth father, Poseidon, disowned you, and with that he took every single one of your powers you were born with, leaving your body trying but ultimately failing to replace that godly part of your DNA.

"You see, gods have no DNA, meaning that every demigod is born with half of the required chromosomes for life. Your godly side fills in the missing chromosomes, but when a child is disowned…"

"They die," Percy said deadpan. He turned to look at Pontus, worry visible on his face. "Why did Poseidon disown me if he knew this would be my fate?"

"He was terrified of you, his only son. Instead of teaching you how to master your gifts, he took them all away without any regards to your well-being. Then Poseidon took you to your friends, broke the news, and left them to deal with your failing health. But they gave up too and decided to leave you chained up until you finally died."

Percy felt that he was positively trembling with anger, struggling to control his urge to find his so call "friends" and drown them all. He knew his fatal flaw was loyalty, so if they would throw that back at his face, he was going to show them no mercy on the battlefield.

"Where do you come into this, Pontus?"

Pontus gestured for him to watch the scene play out in front of him, leaving Percy to come up with his own answers. He watched as Nyx and Leto cleaned up the blood while Selene worked on placing a breathing tube down his throat. Erebus and Helios worked on getting IV's set up as Kronos cut off Percy's clothing and removed a necklace from his body. It wasn't a shock to Percy to see that neither Perses nor Triton decided to make an appearance; they were probably in another room, grumbling about all of the fuss over a mere demigod.

Eventually, after Percy was somewhat stabilized, Pontus appeared with a silver dagger in his hand. His eyes caught sight of the purple glimmer on the dagger, and sure enough, Hecate's insignia was branded onto the hilt. Pontus proceeded to perform a shallow incision from the base of Percy's neck to the bottom of his sternum before he slashed at his own hand with the knife. Percy watched with sick fascination as Pontus's ichor landed onto the long incision, watching as his skin began to knit itself up while also glowing gold.

 _"_ _There,"_ Past Pontus said as Selene bandaged up his hand. " _That will do the trick."_

 _"_ _Remind me again why this attempt will work,"_ Past Selene said, looking skeptically at Percy's comatose body. " _No one's ever survived the adoption process."_

 _"_ _Ah, my dear Selene, you forget that I have knowledge that the gods do not. Firstly, Hecate has enchanted this dagger with an enhancer spell as well as the adoption one, which has never been used in an Olympian adoption. Secondly, Poseidon's domain is my own which makes the transition much easier. Lastly the mixing of his blood and my ichor solidify the adoption, making it permanent. When he comes to, he shall have every power under my domain, making him a worthy adversary once he trains."_

 _"_ _If you say so, Pontus. For his sake, I really hope this works."_

 _"_ _He will, Selene. He will."_

The image began to fade out, and Pontus's study began to materialize around them once more. Percy felt lightheaded from returning to the present, causing for him to collapse onto the chair behind him while gripping its arms so tightly that his knuckles turned white. Once he no longer felt as if he was going to pass out, he took a moment to take a good hard look at Pontus.

He was currently massaging his temples, obviously suffering from the same feeling of shock. While Pontus was exceptionally cruel at times, he had cared enough to save Percy's life by making him his son. That was a debt he would never be able to repay.

"Thank you, Father," Percy said gratefully, giving Pontus a small smile.

"Why is it that you call me by that title when I have shown you the truth?"

"Because a father is someone a child can count on to be there, support them, and guide them through life, which is something you've done for me. Poseidon was no father, so as far as I'm concerned, you are my father, not that ding-biscuit."

"Ding-biscuit?" Pontus replied, sounding amused.

"First insult that came off the top of my head," Percy answered with a shrug. "Whatever it means, it's not supposed to be flattering."

"You are something else, Perseus Jackson. You are truly something else."

"Thanks, I try my best."

Of course when the two were having a casual conversation for the first time in ages, a guard just had to demand for an audience with Pontus. Both Percy and Pontus were ticked at their conversation being cut short, but when the guard shouted, "She's back, sir! Both items are in the holding cells!" they shared a knowing look, smiling coyly at one another.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Percy asked Pontus, grinning evilly.

"You know it," said Pontus, cracking his knuckles like he was about to get in a fight, which in a way, he was. "Let's go."

The two began heading towards the cells, ignoring the prying eyes of one of the new recruits.


	5. Chapter 4

Annabeth knew Zeus allowed for her to join Pontus's army, because one, he needed more spies, and two, he was afraid of her. He didn't like that she had been brought back from the Underworld, yet when it was his own children, he'd turn a blind eye on that rule. After saying some rather unflattering things about the King of Olympus, Zeus sent her on her way, but she had to be disguised first. The disguise was perfect, almost too perfect for her liking. Of course, being the airhead that he is, Zeus summoned Aphrodite instead of Athena to disguise her.

This led to Annabeth being stuck in Aphrodite's chambers for four hours as the goddess frantically put together what she deemed her "essentials." Annabeth didn't know how tubes of lipstick and bottles of mascara were supposed to help her, but she brought them along anyways, knowing that Aphrodite's makeup was sometimes charmed.

And while Aphrodite had her fun handing her too many beauty products, Annabeth knew her favorite part had been transforming Annabeth. With a simple wave of her hand, she had made Annabeth's blond curls fall into gentle black waves around her shoulders. Her piercing grey eyes were now a vibrant green, shining like emeralds in the sunlight. Aphrodite had even changed her skin, tanning it to make her appear like she was Latina.

"You need to visit my dear old uncle," Aphrodite said as she brushed Annabeth's new black locks out of her face. "You can pass off as his daughter, and sweetie, I suggest you take any advantage that you can grab a hold of."

"Why do I feel that has double meaning?" Annabeth asked warily, slowly pushing the goddess' hand off of her.

"Am I truly that predictable?" Aphrodite laughed, and to Annabeth's frustration, it sounded like the chiming of bells, something pleasant, which she knew from firsthand experience that Aphrodite was anything but that. "I'm positive that Uncle Poseidon will help you, but yes, I mean if you have the chance to approach Perseus and seduce him, take it. Make him fall in love with you again, and once he's under your spell, _you,_ Annabeth Chase, will bring our hero back."

Annabeth had felt nothing but dread at hearing Aphrodite's advice. Sure, she still loved Percy with all her heart, but there was no way she was going to get between him and Nico. If he was happy with the son of Hades, she'd be there for him as his best friend. But seeing as the goddess refused to take no as an answer, through gritted teeth she replied a strained, "Fine, but no promises."

"That's all I wanted to hear." Aphrodite then walked over to an overflowing fruit basket and handed her a golden apple. "All he needs to do is take one bite, and he's all yours. Don't fail us."

After that unsettling confrontation with the love goddess, Annabeth was sent to Poseidon's palace (thankfully he hadn't been kidnapped like she previously thought), and he immediately blessed her with his powers before returning inside to sulk. That's the only thing the god of the seas did nowadays, and Amphitrite had long since given up on trying to cheer up her husband. Instead, she was ruling the seas in his place.

She had met the army's recruiter later in the day, and from there, she was whisked away to gods know where before finding herself in the middle of a grandiosely decorated palace. It had all the feelings of the palaces in Olympus while being extremely modernized too, leaving Annabeth looking at everything in awe. It wasn't until she remembered that she was in the heart of enemy territory that she stopped being so amazed and instead began remembering as much detail about the room as she could.

"Wait here," she had been told by the recruiter, only for him to return minutes later with none other than Kronos. Annabeth wanted to deck the Titan so badly, but seeing as that would blow her cover, she instead bowed, making sure that she didn't make eye contact with the temperamental immortal.

"You may look at me, girl," Kronos had said at last, leaving Annabeth to finally raise her head. She still felt personally insulted by the fact that Kronos still inhabited the body of Luke Castellan, and his eyes were the biggest insult of all by being molten gold instead of baby blue. Annabeth held his gaze, desperately fighting every fiber of her being screaming to attack and strangle him, so she dug her nails into her palms instead.

She watched on with disgust as Kronos obviously checked her out, his eyes roaming every inch of her body, causing for her to almost shiver in disgust. She had dug her nails in even harder.

"Why would such a pretty thing like you want to join this army?" Kronos had asked, an eyebrow raised, as if that was supposed to be seductive.

News flash, it wasn't.

"I want to join as a way to stay safe," Annabeth had said, sounding assertive but slightly quiet at the same time. She didn't want to seem too eager, but she wasn't going to sound like a weakling either. "My father abandoned me when I was a baby, and I'm only now learning of the Greek gods. But when I found out what Poseidon had done to my brother, I knew I wanted no part being with those people."

"You're a daughter of Poseidon?" Kronos had asked, sounding absolutely flabbergasted. "How old are you, child?"

"Fourteen, my lord. Is that okay?"

Kronos' face lit up with elation. "Absolutely, my dear." Ugh, cringe attack incoming. "Follow me this way. You and I have much to discuss."

And after suffering through the tedious hours of interviews with every general except for two, she was tested for her abilities, proving herself worthy of wielding a dagger but perfectly incompetent with using her hydrokinesis. Surprisingly, Kronos had stood up for her, telling the others that she was young and had only recently found out the truth about her heritage.

Once everything was done, she was assigned to Barrack Six, which she found ironic seeing that was her mother's cabin. She was then sent on her way with her training uniform in hand and instructions to make her way to the arena in three hours. That had given her three hours to explore, bringing us up to where she was now, watching two men walking down the hallway.

By the way they carried themselves, Annabeth knew that these were the two generals that had been absent at her induction. She would've been fine with merely watching them for the time being, but the second she heard the shorter of the two generals saying, "I can't wait to get my hands on them," that she realized that Percy was one of the generals.

Well, this job just got twenty million times more complicated.

Despite the fact that she knew she shouldn't go follow them, she was here to spy, and dammit, that was what she was going to do. Ignoring the logical side of her brain telling her to go to the arena, Annabeth waited for the two of them to turn the corner and began following them into the heart of the castle, hoping and praying that she wouldn't get caught.

* * *

Nico woke up with a pounding migraine and the inability to open his eyes. When he went to touch his face to see what damage he had sustained, he felt the icy coldness associated with handcuffs of some sort dangling around his wrists. Through his blind exploration, he found out that his ankles were bound up, too, and both sets of chains led to one hook, letting him know he was a prisoner.

He went to touch his face again, only stopping when he heard someone say, "I wouldn't do that if I were you."

"I-I recognize your voice," Nico said weakly, shocked at how dry his mouth and throat felt. It took him a moment, but he finally matched up the voice with a face. "Vicky? You did this to me?"

"Yup," she said, sounding extremely proud of herself. "Not bad for an eleven year old, huh?"

That didn't help Nico's current situation any, but it did wonders on lowering his self-esteem. Getting his ass kicked by an eleven year old was a new low, even for him. He then tried to shadow travel out of the dungeon, only to be "tsked" at by Vicky.

"You're not going to get out of those chains so easily, Nico," Vicky said softly, as if she were actually sorry for landing him in this cell. "My master has made it so all powers are null and void if one is to wear it. But since I'm not a completely heartless freak, take this. It'll help with the swelling."

Something cold and wet landed in his lap, causing for him to squirm at the sudden change in temperature. He took the ice pack gratefully and pressed it to the side of his head where the migraine pains were the worst, which just so happened to be where the swelling was the worst. Out of curiosity, he wanted to ask Vicky what she had done to him, but his pride prevented him from doing so.

"If you have any questions," Vicky continued, "I'll answer what I can. For the time being, I suggest you get comfortable. You're going to be here a while."

Nico scoffed. "Well, first things first, how long am I going to be here?"

"Don't know; I'm on a need-to-know basis with my master. I can guess that you'll probably be tortured, though, so I'd begin mentally preparing yourself as of now."

"I've been tortured before."

Vicky laughed manically, scaring Nico slightly. No eleven year old should have a laugh that sounds like it belongs to a serial killer. "My master is – how should I put this? – inventive when it comes to torture. He once burned a son of Apollo alive through Morse code. Fitting execution, in my opinion, since the traitor gave away our secrets that way."

"Victoria, what are you doing here?" another voice exclaimed, disgust palpable in his voice. "You have no reason to be down here."

"I have every right to be here," she replied, her voice a steely calm. Nico knew that this was Vicky trying not to blow up right then and there. "I was the one who brought him in, and Master said I could watch the interaction between them."

The man scoffed. "You're making stuff up. Go back to the arena and train, Victoria. I will not have another failure in this family."

"It's not my fault that he died!" Vicky shouted, her reply tearing itself from her throat. "He wasn't ready to go on that mission, but _you_ were the one that sent him to master claiming that he'd be fine! _It's your fault!"_

"That is no way to speak to your father, young lady!"

From inside the cage, Nico heard someone being slapped and then slammed against the iron bars. It wasn't hard for Nico to decipher that Triton was currently pressing his daughter against his jail cell.

"Leave her alone, Triton!" Nico shouted at last, hearing the audible sounds of Vicky being dropped to the floor. "If you're going to be a jerkwad, leave Vicky the hell alone!"

"You would defend someone who locked you up as a prisoner?" Triton asked, seemingly suspicious.

"No," Nico agreed. "I wouldn't defend my captor, but I will defend a child from an abusive parent. So you're going to get out of here and leave Vicky here with me."

With one loud harrumph, Nico heard Triton stalk up the stairs before throwing the door shut, the echo resounding in his cell. He was glad to feel that the swelling had gone down somewhat, but his vision was still extremely blurry. Despite this small victory on his part, all he could hear was the broken sobs escaping from Vicky's throat as her breaths came out in hiccups, obviously trying to compose herself again.

"Thank you, Nico," she said softly, still sniffing silently to herself.

"You won't be thanking me when I get out of here," Nico replied brusquely, yanking half-heartedly at the chains once more. "You're still a traitor to Olympus."

Vicky sighed. "I don't have a choice, Nico. One day you'll see that, and on that day, we can be friends again. Until then, I obey my master."

"The day we're friends is the day Tartarus freezes over."

"Listen, I've got to go before my master and his head general arrive. Word of advice, keep your mouth shut and answer their questions. It'll make this entire process easier for you if you cooperate."

Vicky promptly took off, her feet creating soft echoes as they hit the stairs until the door to the room was shut. Nico wasn't alone for long, though, because a few seconds later, the door burst open again and he could hear two male voices conversing with each other.

His heart just about stopped beating in his chest, because Nico _knew_ that voice, knew it as well as his own. It was unmistakable, and unless his ears were playing a trick on him, he knew one of the people that were on the other side of the iron bars imprisoning him.

"Percy?" Nico choked out, cursing himself internally for sounding so weak. "What are you doing here?"

Percy laughed, but this wasn't the laugh that would bring a smile to everyone's face. No, this was the laugh you associated with a madman, the kind of laugh that made you unnerved and want to put as much distance between you and that person as humanly possible.

"Well, well, well," Percy crooned, tapping his fingers against the bars. "Look what we have here, Father: the son of Hades. Quite a catch, don't you think?"

"Oh, quit your ogling and begin your job," the other man replied. For some reason Percy had called this man Father, yet his voice was not Poseidon's. If that was the case, then who was Percy talking to?

"As you wish."

All of a sudden, Nico felt the chains binding his wrists and ankles being harshly yanked until the metal bars were pressing into his face and chest, making him shiver at the iciness of them and wincing as there seemed to be a slight electric current running through them as well.

"Pity that you're such a pretty boy." Percy said in a sickly sweet voice, his fingertips trailing along Nico's cheekbones. "You and I are going to have so much fun together."

* * *

Percy stood under the running water of his shower, fiercely scrubbing at the dried blood on his skin with soap, creating pink bubbles that burst when they came in contact with water. The aftermath of torture was probably the worst part of the whole ordeal in Percy's opinion. He hated the feeling of blood on his skin, drying up and crusting over like a fresh scab, except he knew he could pick at the blood and not sustain any scars.

Well, physical scars, anyways. The screams that he managed to bring from his victim's larynxes were plenty of fuel for the nightmares that constantly plagued him. Sometimes Percy would wake up in a cold sweat in the middle of the night, clutching an area of his body like his throat or stomach, thinking that one of his victims somehow made it into his chambers and enacted retribution on him in the same way he had hurt them.

Once he finished with his shower, he threw on a black shirt and some gray sweatpants, deciding to do away with his general attire for the time being. While it signified his rank, the jacket was extremely uncomfortable, and the constant sound of his medals thumping against his chest drove his ADHD crazy. It was nice to be able to unwind for a while, to feel like he was a regular mortal teenage boy in his room instead of constantly having to wear a general's façade.

As his position as Pontus' second in command and son, all eyes were constantly on him, watching his every move like hawks. It didn't help matters that some of his fellow generals couldn't stand being in the same room with him, much less ever follow any order he ever gave them. Add that to all of his constant training and undercover missions, it's a wonder that Percy ever found time in the day to merely breathe.

He made his way over to the piano Pontus had put in his room and sat in front of it, staring blankly at the ivory and black keys staring back at him. He had told Pontus that he was incapable of playing any instrument, so his father in turn placed a piano in his room, claiming that if he could master the piano, he could master every other instrument.

"Better late than never," Percy said to himself quietly, awkwardly placing his hands on some of the keys. "Now, which one is middle C?"

"The white key in front of the section with only two black keys," a new voice replied, immediately sending Percy's guard all the way up. He had been the target of assassination attacks before, and ever since the first one, he learned to trust no one that was from the army itself. "May I enter?"

"Of course, dear," Kronos said enthusiastically, poking his head out from behind Percy's door. He caught Percy's unamused expression and returned it by giving him a glare, letting Percy know that whatever Kronos was currently up to was of utmost importance.

"Kronos, why have you brought a young girl into my room? I've already told you what I think about bringing girls from the barracks for the night," Percy said in a vexed tone, hitting a few random keys on the piano that created an awful sound to show his annoyance.

The girl's face flushed red at his insinuation. While Percy never partook in sleeping with random girls, not all the generals shared his sentiments. It was common for both girls and boys from the army to be found leaving the general's wing in the morning as they made their way down to the barracks. The majority of the time, these people ran as fast as they could out of this area, tears streaming down their face in torrents as they attempted to forget the previous night's events. Back when Percy was in the barracks, he remembered one of his own barrack mates being summoned for the night, and in the morning, she was an emotional wreck. That was something he'd like to change, but seeing as Percy knew that he'd never have the loyalty of his father's generals for doing such a thing, he turned a blind eye, ignoring the cries in the morning.

"She's not here for _that_ reason, Perseus," Kronos replied with a scowl. "For Chaos' sake, get your mind out of the gutter. No, I'd like for you to meet…erm, what's your name again, dear?"

"Marina," the girl answered, brushing back a stray lock of hair behind her ear. "My name's Marina."

"Consider this a training exercise," Kronos told Percy, to which he responded with a groan as he bashed his head against the piano this time. It was too late to be dealing with Kronos's mentoring. "By looking at her, identify who her parent is."

Percy rolled his eyes but faced Marina anyways, ignoring the urge to flip off the Titan of time and shove the newcomer out of his room with Kronos. The first thing, and probably Marina's most notable feature, was her eyes. They were such a vibrant green that it reminded him of the glittering emeralds he'd seen in the palace's jewel storage. But it also gave him the feeling of being back on the surface world, the green hue reminding him of places like Central Park. Her hair was raven black, which only served to make her eyes pop out even more. Her skin was sun-kissed, making her seem as if she spent every day at the beach. His last thought was enough for him to come up with an answer that made the most sense to him.

"She's a daughter of Poseidon, right? If not him, she's possibly a child of some other sea god or goddess."

Kronos was positively beaming, looking like someone who had taught a dog how to read books. Percy wasn't calling dogs dumb with the simile, but he knew Kronos thought that he still had so much to learn that there was no way he would be able to remember everything off the top of his head.

News flash, guessing kids' parents by physical appearance was something Percy did on a daily basis. And seeing that he and Marina shared a variety of the same features, well, it was easy for him to guess that she was a daughter of Poseidon. That, and her name literally came from the Latin word _mare,_ which means sea. So the fact that Kronos was so proud over something so insignificant made Percy feel more than a little ticked off at his trainer.

"Yes, I'm Poseidon's daughter," Marina answered at last. "But after I found out what happened to you-"

"Enough," Percy cut her off, standing up from the bench he had been sitting on. "I don't care what you think you know about me, because I'm here to set the record straight. Poseidon is the reason I exist, but he will _never_ be my father. You and I may have the same sire, but that does not make us siblings. Am I understood?"

"Yes, sir."

"Good. I wouldn't want there to be an issue on what I'm guessing is your first day," Percy said nonchalantly, smirking to himself when he saw Marina's eyes widen with surprise. "Sweetie, you'd be surprised how easy it is to pick up the smallest cues when you've been doing this for months. Now, if you'd please wait here while I talk with Kronos, I'd appreciate that very much. Feel free to play the piano if you'd like."

"I think I'd like that very much," Marina said before making her way to the piano and beginning to play, a soft melody hanging in the air.

Percy motioned for the two of them to go into his bathroom seeing that the only other place they'd be able to talk was the closet, and there was no way he was going in the closet with Kronos, especially since the immortals were hell bent on keeping up with current news. So the two went into Percy's bathroom, where Percy immediately soaked Kronos head to toe using the water that had yet to evaporate from the inside of the shower. He used some water from the air for good measure.

"I guess I deserved that," Kronos said with a chuckle, shaking off some water from the floppy mop of blonde hair on his head. "But do you see why I came to you, Perseus? This girl is a valuable asset to us, so it'd be in our best interest if she began training tomorrow."

Percy frowned, crossing his arms over his chest as he did so. "What does any of this have to do with me? If you want her to begin training tomorrow, shouldn't you be down in the armory getting her choice of weapon and armor as well as seeing what level she should start on?"

Kronos sighed and rubbed his temples. Percy knew what the Titan was thinking, but instead of jumping to any conclusions he waited silently. "You're so oblivious," – ah, there was the insult Percy was expecting – "I'm telling you to train Marina. She's excellent with a dagger, but her manipulation of water is atrocious. Even young Vicky has more control than Marina."

Great, that's just what Percy needed, another thing to add to his to-do list. But seeing that Kronos was asking him to do this, he knew Pontus would ask him to train such a powerful asset too, so might as well save himself the trouble and simply grit his teeth and nod his head.

That's exactly what he did, muttering out a defeated, "Fine," before storming out of his bathroom, Kronos hot on his tail. Percy whirled around to face the Titan, gestured to Marina, who was still playing on the piano, and then the door and mouthed the words, "Get out."

Thankfully Kronos got the message and gently led Marina out of his room and was presumably leading her down to the barracks, unless he was going to have her sleep in his room tonight, which in that case, Percy didn't want to know the details.

Once he had his room back to himself, Percy flopped onto his bed, his final conversation draining whatever will he had to play piano. As his eyes began to droop heavy with sleep, the sound of Nico's tormented screams rang in his ears like a never ending echo. Percy clutched a pillow around his ears until the screaming stopped, and only then was he finally able to fall asleep.

* * *

 **I hope you guys are having a good day/night wherever you are!**

 **School sucks**

 **Thanks for reading! :D**


	6. Chapter 5

Annabeth had seen everything. She had watched as Percy and another man dragged a kicking, screaming, and writhing Nico di Angelo in chains into one of the neighboring rooms from the door they had come out of. What made Annabeth even more sick to her stomach was the fact that the room was obviously designed with the intent of being a place of torture, but even worse, the walls were made of an impenetrable glass, so anyone walking by could see what was taking place.

Her mind couldn't process what she was watching as Percy cut, stabbed, poisoned, and suffocated Nico repeatedly to the point where his face was blue, and there was probably more blood on the floor than there was in his body. It took all of Annabeth's willpower to not barge into the room, screaming at Percy to come to his senses so he'd stop hurting his boyfriend.

But he was still under the effects of the Soul Switch magic, she reminded herself, the mere thought of it leaving a bitter taste in her mouth. Because of one deranged Titaness, Percy was now a monster, enjoying being the bringer of peoples' torment instead of trying to save them from suffering.

She bit the inside of her cheek so that she wouldn't scream, rushing off back in the direction she had been heading. It wasn't until Annabeth had left that room far behind that she felt the metallic taste of blood in her mouth. And as she continued wandering aimlessly through the ginormous palace, she couldn't stop trembling, the scene she had watched minutes earlier still burning behind her eyelids every time she blinked.

Out of everything, the worst thing Percy did to Nico by far was not what he did with his weapons, but how he manipulated the younger boy. Annabeth wasn't a hundred percent sure what Percy thought of Nico, but it was obvious to her that he was definitely intrigued by the son of Hades as he watched Nico's movements like it was the most important thing in the world.

Annabeth had watched as Percy set down a poisoned dagger on a table, ignoring the fact that Nico was writhing in his shackles from the pain, his tears being the only thing to wash some of the blood off his face. Then Percy returned with a damp cloth, delicately dabbing at Nico's injuries with the cloth with a contrite look on his face. She watched as he purposely brushed his fingers closer to Nico's lips with every touch of the cloth, until finally Percy was kissing Nico, and to her shock, it appeared as if Nico was kissing him back. Percy kept kissing Nico, and it wasn't until Annabeth caught sight of the syringe in Percy's hand did she understand why he was kissing him in the first place.

He had used this tactic multiple times, and every time, it seemed like Nico fell for it. Annabeth knew what Nico felt like, thinking that maybe true love's kiss would save Percy like they were in a Disney movie. But this was real life and Disney movies don't show the ugly truth that is the real world, and Annabeth knew no matter how many times Nico locked lips with his boyfriend, it wouldn't bring the Percy they both knew back.

As if there wasn't that messed up relationship going on in her mind, Annabeth remembered that Kronos was waiting for her in the arena, wherever the Hades that was. And that Annabeth to the subject of Kronos, cringing inwardly as the Titan had been much too excited about her arrival and blatantly flirting with her like it was second nature, which to any immortal, it may as well have been.

In her opinion, Kronos could be sent to the depths of Chaos for all she cared, and she wouldn't shed a single tear. Annabeth would never forgive the Titan of time for taking away the boy who she considered her brother, the boy who did everything in his power to protect her seven year old self after Thalia had become a tree, the boy who was her only friend in a strange new place full of magic and weapons. Yeah, it was safe to say she was still bitter over Luke's death, even more so now that she learned that Kronos was stuck in Luke's body since his couldn't be found anywhere in Tartarus.

"Are you lost?" someone asked her, breaking Annabeth out of her thoughts.

"Um," Annabeth replied sheepishly, glancing around only to realize she had no idea where she was. "Yes, I think I'm lost."

"You think?" the girl who had spoken said, obviously amused.

"I know," Annabeth amended. "I know I'm lost."

"See, now I can help you." The girl grinned widely, sticking her gloved hand out for Annabeth to shake. Annabeth shook her hand. "I'm Erica, daughter of Ariana. Now that formalities are out of the way, welcome to hell. I hope your stay is pleasant."

* * *

Will was worried, and with good reason. Ever since the day that the armored warrior invaded camp, he hadn't seen his Death Breath…err, Nico. He was still getting used to the fact that he no longer had claim over the cute pet names he had given his boyfriend, that went to a certain Perseus Jackson, who was also missing, but that was an entirely different matter altogether.

See, the immortal campers and the camp counselors knew the truth why Percy had disappeared off the face of the Earth, but Nico's disappearing act was something that no one had any information on, leaving them all in the dark. And even though Will wasn't dating Nico anymore, they were still friends, therefore he had every right to be worried for his friend's well-being.

People don't simply vanish into thin air, so where _was_ Nico?

Will was currently standing in the middle of the Hades cabin, staring at the dark mahogany desk that sat opposite Nico's bed, contemplating whether he wanted to go foraging through Nico's papers to see if that would give him any clues. Deciding that he'd rather face Nico's wrath for looking through his stuff rather than finding Nico turn up dead somewhere, Will opened the top drawer and began leafing through papers.

To his surprise, many of them reminded him of worksheets he did his freshman year of high school, and when he found some textbooks scattered around the other drawers, Will guessed that Nico was trying to catch up with his education. While the majority of the papers were homework, there were a couple that stood out to him, and those were set aside for further inspection.

Once Will went through all the papers, he sat down on Nico's bed and began to read the papers he had set aside. When the first piece of paper was addressed to him in Nico's formal scrawl that was his handwriting, Will didn't know what to feel. He reread it three times to make sure his brain was processing this correctly, because if this was true, Will wanted nothing more than a blanket, a pint of birthday cake ice cream, and to be by himself so he could cry.

 _Dear Will,_ it read. _I…I really don't know why I'm even writing this in the first place. I mean, you're dead, and dead people can't correspond with the living, so even if this somehow reached you, I wouldn't know. I asked Dad if I could see you, and of course he said no. I think he's worried I'd pull an Orpheus and try to sneak you out of the Underworld, despite the fact that he knows neither one of us would disrespect the laws of death._

 _And while this may sound like I'm coping, Will, I'm not. I'm an absolute wreck who can't even look in the general direction of the Apollo cabin without feeling like I'm about to have an emotional breakdown right then and there. Speaking of which, I know when we meet again you're going to be mad at me for this, I relapsed. It's nothing like it was before, but this is a way to honor you, Sunshine. A scar to remember you and Annabeth and Lou Ellen for being heroes and some of my best friends._

 _It never got past that, I promise, Will. Oh, I can already imagine your face as you read this. You'd probably be scrunching your nose and blinking quickly, as if you could hide the signs that you were about to start crying at any moment. And then you'd call me an idiot for doing such a thing before holding me in your arms, sheltering me away from the rest of the world as you kissed my forehead._

 _Then I'll remember you're dead and lock myself up in my cabin, wishing that I could be with you. But you'd wait for me, wouldn't you? Would you wait for me to join you in the Underworld? I understand if you want to move on, and gods I feel so selfish for asking you to stay, but I don't think I could stay in eternity without you my dear William. Oops, I know how you hate your name, and you'd probably be glaring at your full name in disgust._

Will noticed that he was, in fact, glaring at his name in disgust, hating how formal William sounded.

 _Great, now I'm rambling to a dead person, way to go, Nico. If anyone saw these letters, they'd think I've lost my marbles. Maybe one day I'll ask Dad to give this to you, but until that day comes, know that I love you, Will, and I'm sorry we ended this way._

 _I'm so sorry._

 _~Nico_

This was the first in a long succession of letters written to Will while Nico grieved, and while some seemed happier than others, there were a few where all Nico wrote were a few words saying how he was a walking death threat, and that anyone he said those three words, "I love you," they ended up dead within the next few years. Those were the letters that ripped Will's heart open, making him wish that he'd never been chosen to go on that quest for his father, and maybe if that had been the case, Nico would still be his boyfriend.

Both Will and Annabeth had talked about Nico and Percy, respectively, both of them understanding that their boyfriends had moved on while they were dead. That didn't lessen the sting, though, and Will found it hard to imagine Percy kissing Nico instead of him, Percy being the one taking Nico out on dates while Will would probably spend all night in the infirmary.

Will pushed aside his jealousy for the time being and continued sifting through the contents of Nico's desk until he found a folder full of papers bound together by paperclips. Will returned the letters to Nico's desk and opened the folder, shocked to find that it was startlingly empty. There was nothing, zilch, nada in that folder, and Will didn't know how to feel about that.

He set the folder back in its spot, and seeing that he hadn't found anything useful in the Hades cabin, Will left in search of Chiron. Maybe he'd have some answers.

But of course, nothing is ever that simple, and as shut the door to the Hades cabin, the alarm signaling an attack was blaring again, despite the fact that the last attack had been a mere three days ago. Will, having feared something like this happening, dashed off to his cabin, grabbing his bow and the first quiver full of arrows he could find. While he may not have been the best shot, there was no way he was running into battle without a weapon.

"Hey, Sunny Boy!" Clarisse called out, her boyfriend Chris following right behind her. "Tell your siblings to shoot from the trees and the tops of buildings. We'll leave you the other archers, too, but we need everyone on the front lines."

"Clarisse, what's going on?" Will asked, keeping pace with the daughter of Ares as she began barking orders to her siblings and other campers.

"Chris, get the Hermes kids to begin setting traps," Clarisse told Chris before turning to face Will with a look he was all too familiar with, the one she wore when a major battle was about to go down.

Will felt himself blanch. "So soon?"

"Unfortunately for us, we got a wave of kids that don't know jack and would sooner impale themselves with their swords than be able to fight." Clarisse then began shouting at some campers who were putting on their armor backwards. "Listen, I've got to round up the troops, so get ready for this, Will. I'll talk to you later."

 _I'll talk to you later_ was a sentence that had little to no significance to a mortal, but for a demigod, it was a way of saying that they hoped you'd still be alive by the end of the night, and if you were, good job. Not many people liked the idea of saying goodbye as it felt too final, like you knew you were walking into your death. While some people said goodbye anyways, Will preferred to say he'll see his siblings later and come to terms with the casualties later.

Will began running towards the front lines, bent on shooting from Thalia's tree, and as he ran by, he informed the other archers of Clarisse's orders for them. When he got to Thalia's tree, with the help of Peleus, he was able to sit on a high enough branch so that the leaves would cover him, but not so high that the branch would snap under his weight. From up there, he saw a view that would be enough to make any Olympian go screaming for their mommy.

Because leading the army was none other than Luke Castellan, and that could only mean one thing: Kronos was back.

* * *

"Are you sure we shouldn't have sent Selene or Helios, or even Leto?" Percy asked, frowning slightly to himself he watched the scene before him unfold in the mist being given off thanks to Hecate's spell. "They'll know it's Kronos in a heartbeat, Father."

"Which is exactly the point, Perseus," Pontus said, turning to look at Percy in a condescending manner. "Now that the Olympians know Kronos is serving someone else, they'll be quaking in their palaces, terrified of the being that could bend the Titan King to their will."

Percy, not wanting to start a pointless argument Pontus that would only leave them cross with each other, simply nodded his head and continued watching, only looking down to jot down notes as to what was going on. He also had a tablet beside him that showed which of the soldiers were still alive, those who had died, and those who had been captured. The ones that had been captured were still marked under deaths, because inside the armor was a capsule containing cyanide in it. And as an extra measure, one that the cadets had no knowledge of, was that the suit would provide an electrical shock strong enough to kill 500 men to make sure they'd never spill their guts to the Olympians.

He watched intently as the army walked on Camp Half-Blood, slaughtering the front lines with ease. Originally the plan had been simply to intimidate the camp, but seeing that the demigods would believe it was an attack, they went armed and were only to retaliate if the campers dealt the first blow.

Sure enough, it had been the archers that sealed the fate of many of the demigods as the crimson color of blood began covering Half-Blood Hill as if someone had knocked over a bucket of red paint onto a blank canvas. Percy took note of the prominent warriors on the battlefield, such as Clarisse La Rue, a powerful daughter of Ares, and an unlikely warrior in Piper McLean, a daughter of Aphrodite who was charming the feeling of bravery into her fellow comrades.

Maybe Pontus would give them a chance to join, Percy thought, wincing as he watched someone tear out a girl's throat before turning to stab an archer in the back. But they were valiantly fighting for Olympus, and while this meant that they must die, he commended their loyalty even if it was for a pantheon full to the brim of knuckleheads who were too lazy to solve their problems and used their children for their bidding instead. It was no wonder why their army was so strong. What child would like to be noticed by their parent under the circumstances of always being sent on life-threatening quests?

Despite all the violence and bloodshed going on the border of the camp, Pontus focused the image on someone Percy knew very well: Chiron, the immortal trainer of heroes. Pontus had told him that Chiron used to love Percy like he was his son, but of course when his powers manifested, he was rebuked by the centaur as well. It was a shame that so many of his so called "friends" and "mentors" shunned him, because they were afraid.

He would've never hurt them due to his fatal flaw, and knowing that they cast him out, ignoring everything he had done for the gods was what stung the most, festering inside of him with unbridled rage only to be released the day he dragged Riptide along all of their throats.

And his vengeance would begin with a certain son of Hades.

He had caused Percy the most damage of them all, using his trust to play right into Hades' plans when they were younger, not telling him about Annabeth and Camp Half-Blood, and worst of all, he was the one who had ratted him out to his Poseidon, causing this whole mess in the first place. For that, Nico di Angelo would pay dearly, but all in good time.

There was still so much fun that the two were to have. Ah, how romantic, Percy thought to himself as their plan formally began and Kronos cut through the battle to speak with Chiron, it'd be just the two of them in a torture chamber with their only company being the myriad of weapons scattered around the room as he slowly drove Nico to madness.

And that was a promise Percy made to himself, finally zoning out as Pontus and Thalassa smugly watched the exchange with Chiron. He would _break_ Nico di Angelo if that was the last thing he did.

Now, all he had to do was get to his heart.


	7. Chapter 6

A few days after witnessing the massacre of over fifty campers, Percy was in the arena warming up as he waited for his new student to finally make an appearance. "You're late," was the first thing he told Marina as he strapped on his armor, making sure that his breastplate wasn't crooked.

"I know," Marina said breathlessly, bending down to have her hands on her knees as she breathed in deeply through her nose and exhaled with her mouth. "I couldn't find my way here, and no one wanted to answer my questions because-"

"Spare me your sob story," Percy said gruffly, motioning for her to put her armor on. "Kronos got this armor made for you, and don't ask how he got your measurements, because I honestly haven't the slightest idea."

Marina shuddered in disgust as she timidly put on the gauntlets and breastplate. She warily eyed the bronze shin guards, and Percy told her that those weren't necessary for the time being. There was no point in guarding your legs if you didn't know the proper stance in the first place.

"I thought we were working on improving my powers?" Marina asked quietly as she finished putting on the breastplate.

Percy internally groaned at the amount of questions she was asking. If he didn't know better, he would've thought Marina was a child of Athena and not Poseidon. "Listen, girl, I'm under orders to teach you as I see fit, and today we'll be practicing the basics of sword fighting, okay? No more questions unless I speak to you first, or I'll see to it that you feel the wrath of Nyx's whip. Do you understand?"

Marina nodded and went to the wall of weapons before selecting a sword. Percy watched how she held it and compared its size to her own body. It seemed like it'd be a good length for her, but on the other hand, she started staring at the pummel as if it were made of lead.

"Is the sword too heavy?" Percy asked, walking over to inspect her selection. He could see that Marina desperately wanted to ask a question, so he finally said, "Fine, you can ask questions about equipment and the like, but no prying."

Marina sighed in relief, shooting him a small, yet genuine smile. "Thank you, sir. And yes, I think the sword's too heavy. I feel like someone's strapping a bowling ball to my wrist."

The duo carried on conversation like this throughout the entire lesson when they swapped out weapons, or when Marina wasn't understanding an instruction and asked for clarification. To Percy's surprise, Marina wasn't such an unbearable student once he got past his annoyance over her curiosity. He could see himself becoming great friends with this girl, not to mention that he felt an overwhelming sense of belief of no longer being the only male water bender in the army.

Yes, while Vicky may have had control over water, too, Pontus preferred using the daughter of Triton as a spy instead of honing in on her powers, so essentially, the only person who could fully control their hydrokinesis was Percy, meaning he was constantly being pushed to do more, to perform things that any water deity could do. All this pressure added an unnecessary amount of stress on his shoulders on top of everything else he was supposed to be doing the day he was sent to the front lines. Having a partner, a friend, who could help him in his mission was worth taking time out of his day to train Marina.

By the end of their lesson, both were learning against the walls of the arena in a desperate attempt to catch their breaths. The last time Percy had been this winded was when Triton was his mentor, and that was over six months ago. Now he looked back at Triton's techniques and scoffed, wondering why Pontus had put such a jealous and incompetent god to be his trainer. At least Kronos took over his training, making him a much better warrior than Triton ever could.

And in all honesty, everything he had learned, he was going to teach Marina. He needed an equal to stand alongside when he commanded the army, and who better to do it than his own student? Of course there'd be the dissidents (cough, Perses and Triton, cough), but having two children of the sea was all that was needed to cinch the army together, like the bow on a present. The primordial of the sea would rule again, and Marina was going to help him achieve that goal.

"What are you thinking about?" Marina asked after she caught her breath, moving to get into cool down stretches.

"A million different things," Percy answered, following Marina's lead and doing his own stretches. "Some important, others not so much."

Marina raised an eyebrow at him. "What's a random thought you're having right now?"

"Do penguins have knees?"

Marina broke out into laughter, rolling over until she was clutching her sides from how hard she was laughing. All the while Percy was pouting and saying, "That was a serious question! Do they or don't they have knees?!"

"T-They do," Marina answered, wiping away the tears that had formed in her eyes from how hard she had laughed. "They're covered by their feathers, and that's why it looks like penguins don't have knees."

"Thank you!" Percy exclaimed. "Finally someone could give me an answer to the most pressing question in my mind!"

The two began laughing again, something which Percy realized he hadn't done in ages. This was the first time in a couple of weeks that he was actually giving someone a genuine smile, and that was an amazing feeling. He hated the frown or pursed lips expression he was always wearing, making him feel like a teacher who wanted nothing more than to hand out detention slips to an entire class. So the fact that Marina made him smile meant great things were in her future.

"You've done a great job for your first class," Percy said at last, reaching for his water bottle and taking a huge swig from it. "But we haven't even grazed the surface of your capabilities."

Marina smiled back at him, making him feel like he was on the peak of a rollercoaster drop and his stomach felt like it was dropping down into his legs. He hated that feeling of nervousness, and instantly, he feared he knew what was going on.

"So I'll meet you here tomorrow?" Marina proposed.

"I'll be here at the same time as today."

Marina smiled again, and once again, Percy wanted to kick his subconscious for that fluttering sensation that wouldn't stop going off in his stomach. Percy watched as Marina left her sword in the barrel labeled _Need to Sharpen_ and walked out of the arena, going Chaos knows where.

It wasn't until much later that Percy would wonder how a newbie would've known that a sword needed sharpening, but when that day came, it would already be too late for him.

0o0o

Kronos glared at the chains his hands were in with disdain, glaring at the Celestial bronze that kept him captive. He knew from the beginning that he would've ended up in this position, so in all honesty he wasn't too miffed at the chains, but he was still annoyed by them nonetheless.

The next thing Kronos knew, something had violently slammed against his cheek, making him blink from the shock and touching the area tenderly. That was when he noticed the burly daughter of Ares glaring daggers at him while various other campers were struggling to sit her down in her seat around the ping pong table. "You deserve so much worse, you asshat! It's your fault that they died!" the girl, whose name was Clarisse, shouted, allowing for herself to be seated in her table as her boyfriend, that traitorous Chris Rodriguez, was sitting on her lap so that she wouldn't try to get up.

Despite the throbbing in his cheek, Kronos knew he deserved that punch. He knew that he had caused countless deaths when he had tried to take over Olympus, and that meant his enemies only grew amongst the demigods as their death toll rose. It was only normal that those he had hurt wanted to seek retribution on him, and in all honesty, a punch to the face was nothing compared to what some other people have done to him in the past.

"I deserved that," Kronos muttered to himself, to which some blonde kid replied, "You bet your immortality you do. You deserve so much worse for what you've done, but seeing as you raised your white flag, speak."

Kronos snarled at the kid. The blond simply yawned as if he were bored and pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose, his fingers impatiently tapping against his thigh. "I'm here to give you a warning."

Clarisse began to laugh. "As if we would believe a single word that comes out of your mouth."

"There's a reason you're known as the Crooked One," said another girl, who was standing next to the blonde boy in the glasses. "You twist the truth until the only one who knows the reality of it all is yourself."

"Oh, don't flatter me that way," Kronos scoffed, rolling his eyes. "Yes, I deceive and tell lies. Yes, you have every right to ignore anything that I say, but listen closely. If you don't heed my warning now, everything you hold near and dear to your hearts will perish."

Clarisse growled, pushed Chris off her lap, and stormed out of the Big House, screaming "I'm going to rip his head off with my bare hands!" as the door shut behind her.

"Clarisse, wait!" Chris shouted after her, going to chase after her, but not before shooting Kronos a piercing glare.

"How do we know you won't lie to us?" the blonde asked, ignoring the fiasco that had just occurred.

"I swear on the River Styx that everything I say in this conversation is the truth."

The blonde's face visibly brightened, but the Native American looking girl was still wary of him, wrapping her arm around the blonde's waist in a protective manner. She whispered something into his ear, to which he nodded and set his jaw, reminding Kronos suspiciously of Zeus.

"Bring the prisoner to the basement," the blond said sternly, turning his back towards Kronos. "And don't take your eyes off of him. Welcome, Kronos, to Camp Half-Blood's new prison."

0o0o

Nico should be dead.

How his heart was still beating in his chest was completely beyond him, especially with the amount of poison had been injected into his body. While Nico had no idea which poisons had been used, he knew some completely paralyzed his muscles while others made him feel as if his insides were going to catch on fire.

Then there was all the blood loss he had sustained from the various cuts and stabbings he had sustained, and it didn't help him any that the worst aches were on his upper thighs and chest, where the largest blood vessels are. During his time here, Percy must've been taught in the basics of human anatomy, as he knew exactly where to hurt him to inflict the worst wounds.

Somehow it wasn't necessarily the physical torture that made Nico want to die right then and there, but he knew it had more to do with the fact that it had been _Percy_ to shove the daggers and syringes into him that made him want to call out to Thanatos to come and claim his soul.

Nico had watched through half-lidded eyes as Percy was smirking and smiling the entire time as he'd pick the next instrument of torture and verbally taunting him as he did so. The worst insult was when Percy had kissed him right on the lips, slow and soft and gentle like they used to do. And for a moment, Nico almost believed that everything was okay, that the two of them were back in New York, within the borders of Camp Half-Blood as they planned out their futures.

But that fantasy crashed and burned the second Percy violently shoved a syringe into the side of Nico's neck, making him scream out in pain as the man who had been standing beside Percy laughed cruelly, goading Percy to use double the dose of whatever he had been using. Percy did just that, though, and he grabbed a second syringe, using the vein inside of Nico's arm this time, which made Nico writhe even more.

That had been days ago, though, so how Nico hadn't died from his injuries surprised him. It wasn't until he felt the featherlike touches against his skin that he realized he wasn't alone.

"What have I done?" the voice of a girl asked, her fingertips brushing against the crook of Nico's elbow, causing for him to wince in pain. "I left on a wild goose chase, and now you're here."

Nico forced his eyes open, shocked to see the familiar face of his sister peering down at him. "B-Bianca?" he asked, cringing at how dry his throat felt and how raspy his voice was.

Nico felt the coldness of her tears as they landed on his face, her hands like ice on his skin. "I'm here," she whispered softly, brushing his matted locks out of his eyes.

Nico shut his eyes, relishing in the feeling of Bianca caressing his face like she would do when he was sick. He heard her begin to sing in Italian, one of the nursery songs their mother had sang to them whenever there was a thunderstorm and they were too scared to come out from underneath their beds.

"Nico, where are you?" Bianca asked at last, her dark eyes glistening over with tears.

"I don't know," he answered weakly. "But everything hurts. It hurts so badly, B. Is this what heartbreak's like?"

"Nico!" Bianca shouted frantically, completely missing the fact that he had just answered her question. "I can't see you!"

" _You think you are clever, daughter of Hades?"_ a booming voice, which Nico recognized as the man who had been with Percy, asked, breaking off into the same cruel laughter that he had heard days ago, making him wish that he could disappear. _"You and your brother may have some control over dreams, but you will never find him so long as his guardian is alive."_

That led for Nico to wonder who exactly his guardian was. It's not like the man was going to answer Bianca anytime soon, but any clues were welcome.

"I will find my brother, you miserable wretch," Bianca spat venomously.

 _"_ _Good luck with that, my dear. You're going to need it."_

The next thing Nico knew, he was getting yanked up from the floor mat he'd been given as a bed, causing for him to trip over his arms and legs as his face skidded along the cement floor. He groaned as he pushed himself to his feet, desperately trying to annoy the incessant throbbing that flooded his joints and head.

"Wake up," Vicky said rather harshly, yanking on his chains once more. Nico allowed for himself to be dragged, ignoring his protesting muscles as he walked into the bars separating him from his freedom. "Look, you're not on the schedule to be tortured today, but I'm in charge of your care. That means I have to bring you to Selene to be treated, okay?"

"What does Selene have to do with me?"

Vicky rolled her eyes and decided to ignore Nico instead of answering his question. "No funny business, or I won't hesitate to break your nose. That'd be such a shame seeing as my master is quite fond of your perfect face."

Nico chuckled bitterly. "Yes, because having two black eyes, a split lip, and I don't know what else is the perfect recipe for an attractive face."

"Master has a fair share of his own scars, so he doesn't discriminate over injuries. He knows you're a beautiful person inside and out."

"He seems to have forgotten that when I was tortured for over four hours."

Nico watched as Vicky visibly flinched at his statement. "If you knew my master as I do, you'd know why he did such a thing. You know, none of this would be happening if you joined us. It'd be so easy, Nico di Angelo, to renounce the gods and cleanse the Earth of their tyrannous reign."

Nico choose to stay silent, not wanting to hear another blasphemous word leave her lips. For an eleven year old girl, the amount of hatred Vicky had directed towards the Olympians was unsettling to Nico, making him wonder what had gone wrong in her short life that drove her into an army founded on loathing.

Vicky seemed to be done having any sort of conversation with him, and she silently led him to what he guessed was the infirmary, never making any other comments unless she was giving him orders. Thankfully she hadn't gotten too angry, because although she was still pulling at his chains like he was cattle, she wasn't being rough about it, using them more as a leash instead of trying to get the metal to cut into his skin.

"Why'd you end up here, Vicky?" Nico asked as the two approached the infirmary. "What could've possibly happened that you joined an army at the age of eleven?"

Vicky whirled around to glare at him, her lips contorted into a sneer no one that young should have mastered. "The death of a loved one can drive one to do crazy things. Out of everyone here, I thought you would've understood me. I guess I'm mistaken; you're just like everyone else." She bent down, locking his chains to the bar underneath a desk flooded with papers and files of what Nico assumed to be medical histories of every soldier here. "Selene will be with you soon," she replied curtly, leaving the room as soon as she was sure Nico couldn't escape.

"Ah, son of Hades!" a young woman – Selene, he presumed – joyfully exclaimed, her fiery auburn hair standing out in stark contrast to the fairness of her skin. Her skin gave off a silvery light, and her eyes were the same ways, looking like the irises were illuminated from the inside out. Overall, Nico was wary about being left alone with the Titaness of the moon. "I've been expecting you, youngling. Please, do come in."

Nico motioned at the chains, to which the Titaness replied, "Silly me, I forgot about those." With a snap of her fingers, the chains vanished from his wrists and ankles, only to be replaced with a black leather cuff around his left forearm. "See, I tell Master that these are much more practical than those archaic torture devices. Maybe one day he'll listen to me. Now, hop onto the table, dear, and let me clean you up."

Nico hesitantly did as he was told, waiting for the perfect moment to act. It had been foolish of Selene to remove his chains, and for her mistake, he was going to take full advantage of it.

Let the waiting game begin.

0o0o

Olympus was in complete chaos – no, not the Creator, Chaos, but the general state of disarray where it seemed as if the person next to you was either going to have a mental breakdown or shove a fork in your neck. Why a fork, you ask. Well, because the author chose a fork and that's the end of the discussion.

Anyways, the Olympian council couldn't grab ahold of themselves. If someone was to walk into that room, they'd witness a three way fight going on between Zeus, Hades, and Hera, Poseidon wasting away in his throne, Ares trying to throw a sword at Hephaestus while screaming at him to be a man, Athena arguing with Aphrodite over sending her daughter into enemy territory without her knowledge, and of course, Demeter was lecturing the sleeping Dionysus over cereal. Apollo, Artemis, and Hermes were overwhelmed with the amount of stimuli in one room, and Artemis was slowly starting to lose her patience with her two brothers, who were scheming, as always.

Then there was poor Hestia in the middle of it all, dutifully tending her hearth while blocking out all the hatred that was being radiated in the room. Artemis, having noticed the small frown on Hestia's face, shrank down to her aunt's size and made her way into the middle of the throne room.

"What's bothering you, Aunt Hestia?" Artemis asked, taking a seat at the foot of Hestia's hearth, basking in the warmth that the fire gave off. Sure, while gods typically never felt the cold as mortals did, Hestia's hearth was still powerful enough to bring even the most temperamental god to a sense of serenity.

Hestia sighed softly, giving the embers a gentle nudge with her poker before making a grand gesture around the room. "All this fighting is beyond me," Hestia said solemnly, shaking her head as she did so, which caused for some of her dark locks to escape from under her shawl. She noticed the hair immediately and tucked it once more under her hood. "I understand that we're facing another war, Artemis, but if we tear each other apart now, we are inviting for the enemy to swoop in and finish us off before we're aware that anything happened. If something isn't done soon, I promise you, we'll be residents of Tartarus for the rest of eternity."

"How could you think like that?" Artemis asked, appalled that her ever-hopeful aunt just gave the grimmest prediction she had heard in eons. And this was coming from the goddess who was the first to hear of every foreboding prophecy Apollo's oracles spewed into the mortal world.

"If these last two wars have taught me anything, it's that we need to treat everyone better, starting with the demigods and each other. The more that we fight with each other, we neglect the demigods which in turn make them resent us, so the day that a god or Titan or primordial actually start paying attention to them and promise them revenge on their neglectful parents, well, what side do you think the demigods will flock to? They're children, Artemis, in desperate need of some sort of parental figure showing them love."

"Many of them still have their mortal parents, though, Aunt Hestia."

Hestia gave Artemis a sad smile. "Eons old, yet still so naïve. Artemis, you forget that the majority of the time, we don't tell our lovers that we are gods. It's a brief relationship, and usually, a child is born of this fling. The mortal parent is completely unaware of our world, so the day their child begins to demonstrate their power or monsters begin to attack, they are so afraid for their own lives that they shun their child. This is the case of many demigods. Ask your hunters, and I promise you that at least three of you girls will tell you this happened to them."

Artemis found herself scowling at the hearth, her nails digging into the palm of her hands. "Some people aren't worthy of being parents."

"You're absolutely right," Hestia agreed. "Now do you see why Percy Jackson made that wish all those years ago? Do you see why he asked for your attention instead of immortality?"

Artemis nodded her head, the truth finally becoming clear to her after all these years. Had they stopped acting like selfish three year olds years ago, Kronos would've been defeated long before he became an actual threat, which in turn would've led to Gaea never waking up and this threat never existing in the first place. It was such a simple thing to give a child attention, if only for a few minutes that was all it would take to reassure the kid that their godly parent loves and cares for them.

Now that Artemis was aware of this, she was also painfully aware of the fact that the only male she ever respected was now a creature worthy of scorn. She knew it wasn't Percy's fault that he turned his back on Olympus, but when every fiber of her being was screaming at her to shoot him down before he could rally his troops, she had to use an indescribable amount of self-control. Poseidon would kill her if she hurt his son, not to mention the rest of the council as well.

As much as they hated to admit it, Artemis knew that Percy was a special demigod who was favored by the Olympians. They also feared him, because with a few words, he alone would be able to bring together their children or lead a rebellion against them all. The latter was the reason Zeus had learned to respect the son of Poseidon, but even then, Artemis knew Zeus was always wary of Percy's actions.

She had recently learned through one of their spies, Erica, that Percy was in worse condition than they had originally thought. The stories that the young demigoddess told was enough for goosebumps to rise on Artemis' arms. They also did a number on Poseidon, making the once powerful god of the sea visibly flinch every time Percy's name was mentioned.

But they now had a name to put to the leader of this mysterious army: Pontus, the primordial of the seas. It made perfect sense as to why he had been so hell-bent on getting Percy on his side, and it made Artemis angry that her father hadn't given Percy a way to see Annabeth again after she died for the first time. In her heart, she knew that had the boy been able to see his loved one as he pleased, none of this would've ever happened, and he'd still be on the side of the Olympians.

Or maybe it was the Fates will, she told herself as she gave Hestia a hug before returning to her throne, to have Percy ripped from their hands. Maybe it was to teach the Olympians to appreciate the son of Poseidon for everything he's done instead of sending him to the front lines like he was their favorite plaything, which in Zeus' case, Artemis knew he was more than willing to send his nephew out to face whatever foe threatened Olympus, regardless of what Percy was doing at that moment.

Artemis, fed up with all the incessant fighting going on around her, pulled out her boy and shot one of her explosive arrows into the sky, silencing all the screaming in the throne rooms as the arrow blew up with an impressive explosion. Ignoring the silvery remains fluttering to the ground, Artemis stood up from her throne, glaring at Zeus directly in the eye.

"We're at the precipice of a war," she reminded him sternly, "and look at us, quarreling like we're mere children. No, enough is enough. All of you are going to end your yammering, and maybe we'll actually get something productive done at this meeting. First on the agenda: we finally know who our enemy is."

The rest of the gods stared at Artemis in shock, as if they couldn't believe she had the guts to shut them up. She caught the smile Hestia was sending her way, and that was all the assurance Artemis needed for her to know that she had done the right thing.

Zeus finally came to his senses, cleared his throat, and began the meeting. Artemis relaxed in her throne, smirking to herself for the entire duration of the meeting. Things were finally moving along, preparations were being made, and maybe now they'd be able to stand a chance.

Of course, just as the meeting was about to come to a conclusion everyone could agree on, the throne room erupted in a cloud of smoke and standing in the middle was none other than Percy Jackson.

He smiled serenely at them, brushing off his clothing as if appearing in the middle of the Olympian throne room was a common occurrence for him. "Well," he said. "Did you miss me?"


	8. Chapter 7

Being a general was absolutely exhausting, only more so when Percy learned that he was to present himself to the Olympians, revealing yet another hand to their enemy. Percy had pointed this out to Pontus, claiming that it was enough to satiate the enemy to have Kronos in their custody and that maybe keeping him hidden would benefit them.

But no, his father refused to listen to reason, demanding for him to appear in the throne room of the Olympians during the meeting that was scheduled for the following day. That gave Percy the rest of that day to unleash his anger out in the arena, and unfortunately for Marina, he worked her to the point where she could no longer get up from her hands and knees, desperately begging him for a break. After realizing that her face was an unnatural shade of red, verging on the edge of purple, he ended the training session, sending her back to the barracks with some salve that would help her with her aching muscles later.

Even after Marina left, Percy pulled out the automatons, setting them on the hardest difficulty, and to his disappointment, they were far too easy for his liking. It seemed like he'd have to ask the engineers to make more complex automatons for the generals while these ones could be sent down for the cadets to train with.

By the time Percy was so completely and utterly bored that his anger had faded, he went back to his room, ignoring three girls who had tried to seduce him on his way back. Just as the generals took their pick for the nights, there were always the few that actually wanted a chance to spend the evening with a general, throwing themselves at the generals like cheap prostitutes. They disgusted Percy just as much as the generals who took unwilling cadets into their chambers.

The next day came too soon for Percy's liking, and as he waited for the hours to tick by, Marina had somehow managed to drag him to the shooting range, arguing that, "You've taught me so much, so I want to help you in return."

Percy, never having mentioned his weakness in archery, was suspicious as to how Marina knew this about him, but he was grateful for the lessons anyway. Within the next couple of hours, Marina had made archery make sense in his mind, which was better than what Selene and Helios had ever done before they'd given up on him completely. Marina wasn't like them, instead being extremely patient, even after he had somehow gotten arrow to lodge itself into the door leading into the room.

The door had been behind them.

"H-How?" Marina asked, stunned as she had turned to face the arrow. "But you were holding the bow correctly!"

Percy shook his head, laughing quietly to himself as he did so. "I'm a lost cause when it comes to archery."

She lightly swatted his arm, rolling her eyes as she did so. "Come on, Jackson. We'll make an archer out of you yet."

Eventually Marina had to go to her group training, leaving Percy with just enough time to dress in the clothes Pontus had laid out for him. He stared at the clothes for a while, confused as to why he was asked to dress so formally. This wasn't his going to negotiate a peace treaty, this was war – so shouldn't he be wearing his armor instead?

Percy begrudgingly got dressed, glaring at his reflection in the mirror all the while. The button-up's collar was too stiff around his neck for his liking, his black pants felt like they were cutting off the blood flow to his lower legs, and the cape he was wearing was overkill, even for him. At least Pontus had given him the option of footwear, and he settled with his black combat boots. Despite the fact that they probably didn't match his outfit, they were probably the most sensible thing he was wearing at the moment.

At a quarter till six, Pontus showed up in his room to add the finishing touches. "I thought you were my father, not my stylist," Percy had grumbled, receiving a smack to the back of the head for his comment.

"Now is not the time for joking," Pontus had reprimanded him, adding a blue tie to the whole ensemble. The last thing he added was a silver pin, which glistened in the light, visibly displaying itself on the pocket from Percy's shirt. Sensing Percy's confusion, Pontus explained, "It's the royal crest. By wearing this, you'll be showing the Olympians that your allegiance stands with me."

"I understand, but can I ask something?"

"You just did, but yes, you may."

"What's with the cape?"

Pontus sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "It's a symbol of royalty, Perseus. That's why I gave you the cape."

"You know that modern day monarchs don't wear capes, right? Not even the mortal kings and queens wear capes," Percy argued.

"Oh, if you're going to be so annoyed by it, take the damn thing off! I don't have time for these petty distractions!"

Percy was smirking on the inside as he undid the cape's clasp, the weight of the fabric falling from his shoulders and onto the carpeted floor. Pontus was still muttering swear words under his breath before finally giving Percy a final glance.

"The meeting should be coming to an end soon; you need to go now."

"As you wish, Father," Percy replied, and with that, he vanished in a puff of water vapor, transporting himself straight into the heart of Olympus.

Thankfully, he had enough common sense to hide as the meeting drew to an end, waiting for the perfect moment to send the Olympians into shock. "I think we're all in agreement then," Zeus was saying, reaching for his thunderbolt, which was standing in his weapon's hold of his throne. "This meeting is ad-"

That was the perfect moment. Percy allowed for the throne room to fill up with smoke, with him standing directly in the middle of the growing cloud. "What's going on?" Athena shouted, to which she got a response of, "I don't know, Feather Brain! You're the smart one!" from Ares.

The smoke finally cleared, leaving Percy standing right in the middle of the throne room with twelve giant Olympians glowering down at him in utter terror. "Well," he said calmly, feeling a sadistic smile tug at his lips. "Did you miss me?"

Instead of having to protect himself from being incinerated right then and there, Percy was surprised to be greeted with a bone crushing hug that nearly broke all his ribs. He couldn't even see the face of the person holding him, but by the fact that one of the thrones were empty, he knew that it was Poseidon sobbing into his shoulder.

Percy felt a wave of disgust go through him, threatening to make him sick as this man held him as if some lost child of his had returned. Poseidon had made it well-known to Percy that he wasn't wanted by the god of the sea, much less the Olympians, so to him especially, Percy was going to show no mercy.

Percy brought his head back and collided it against Poseidon's, which caused for the god to fall to the ground from how dazed he was. Yeah, Pontus had wanted him to learn how to head-butt people as a part of his training. But it looked like it was paying off.

"What do you want, Percy?" Zeus asked at last, his eyes flickering between him and Poseidon as the latter clutched his head in pain.

"It's Perseus to you," he hissed venomously, walking away from Poseidon as he did so. It seemed like the god wasn't going to give up on trying to hug him, and Percy wanted to minimalize contact. "And you know exactly what I want."

"Perseus, this isn't you," Athena spoke out, to the amazement of many of the other gods. "The Perseus we know wouldn't harm your father or threaten us."

Percy laughed bitterly. "I remember you, Athena, goddess of wisdom and warfare."

"You do?"

"Yes," Percy continued. "I remember you as the goddess who threatened me to stay away from your daughter when all I wanted was to protect her. You've voted against my life in a situation much like this a couple years ago, and at the time, I was only _thirteen._ You wished death upon a thirteen-year old! You also are the reason I fell into Tartarus with Annabeth because of some petty score you had with the Romans! You have done nothing good for me, and for a goddess of wisdom, you should be able to know where my loyalties lay by now."

The council stared at him with wide eyes as he spat the venomous words at one of the most respected goddesses in the Pantheon. Athena herself had no words to defend herself with seeing as the boy had only spoken the truth. She decided to glare at him instead, but Percy never flinched, waving off the goddess to continue his conversation with Zeus.

"I know many of you are confused as to why I'm showing up here, right in the heart of the people who want me dead," Percy began, pacing back and forth while he did so. "Please, allow for me to explain. I was sent as an, well, I guess ambassador is the best way to put it."

"As if we'll listen to anything the punk has to say," Ares guffawed, only to be silenced by a band of water acting like a gag over his mouth.

The gods turned to look at Poseidon, but when he said, "I didn't do that," all eyes returned back onto Percy.

"For Chaos' sake, you're all idiots. Did you really think Poseidon would've done that?" Percy shook his head in disappointment before continuing his speech. "Anyhow, I came to tell you that this is your last warning. If you surrender now, my master has said that none of you will be imprisoned and none of your children will come to harm. You'll be able to keep your powers too."

"What's the catch?" Zeus asked.

"You can't seriously be contemplating this!" Artemis shouted angrily. Zeus waved her off, waiting for Percy to finish.

"Seems like you've finally grown a brain," Percy commented. "The catch is that you'd have to swear an oath on the River Styx that you will never partake in any measurement to overthrow my master. And to make sure you can't make any loopholes, you will be reciting an oath that my master has written."

"And if we refuse?" Hermes dared to ask.

"Then everyone in this room and all your children will perish," Percy threatened, any levity in his voice disappearing in favor for a voice steely enough to send their hearts racing. It didn't help matters that the gods could see what appeared to be storm cloud swirling in Percy's eyes, meaning he was deadly serious, emphasis on the deadly part.

"Let it be said that you have one week to give me an answer. Oh, what the heck, I'll let you guys know this too: If you refuse, we'll be meeting on the battlefield very soon. The choice is yours, I can only hope you choose wisely."

Percy gave the gods one final deranged smile, but before he could vanish, Poseidon's hand clamped around his wrist like iron. Since Poseidon hadn't been at full strength in months, it took Percy no more than a good punch to the god's face for him to be set free of Poseidon's grasp. As he vanished, the sound of Poseidon screaming his name echoed in his ears.

* * *

"Good, you got my note," Erica sighed in relief, looking both ways before dragging Annabeth into her barrack.

"Um, all it said was your barrack number and a time," Annabeth, confused as to what had been so complicated about the simple instructions.

Erica shook her head, almost like she was amused with Annabeth's response. "You'll learn that no one actually uses their brain here. Everyone gets so accustomed to being told what to do that the majority of them stop thinking for themselves. Anyways, it's a good thing you're here, because we have much to discuss."

Annabeth entered Barrack Twelve, immediately surprised by how busy the barrack's occupants were. Two boys were huddled onto a bunk bed, smuggled maps and books between their legs as they marked everything up with different colored pens and highlighters that had somehow escaped confiscation. A girl in the corner had three separate first aid kits open, replacing items that were low in supply and checking that everything necessary was within them. Another two girls and another boy stood in front of the sole closet in the barrack, arguing over the best weapon to use when fighting a certain opponent. A pair of what Annabeth guessed to be siblings were sitting on the floor, an array of weapons strewn in front of them. As the sister washed off the grime, dirt, and blood, the brother would then polish/clean the weapon so that it looked brand new.

Annabeth whistled to herself, impressed with this undercover base of operations that seemed to be thriving despite the stringent rules they were forced to follow. She also knew that if any of them were caught, they were all going to suffer dearly at the hands of the merciless generals.

"Don't be shy," Erica told Annabeth, nudging her with her elbow. "We're all here for the same reason as you, so don't worry about one of us snitching."

"It looks like everything is under control," Annabeth commented, moving to take a gander at what the boys with the maps and books were working on.

These maps of the palace were extremely intricate, labeling everything to the smallest detail, even going so far as to have a color coded key for something as simple as the mirrors in a particular corridor. As for the books, they all contained the little bit of written history known about Pontus and Thalassa, but there were texts that referenced other pantheons. Annabeth figured they were probably using the latter texts in the hopes of finding some more useful information, but she didn't know how much they should rely on something outside of the famous Greek and Roman writers that recorded these histories.

It took Annabeth anywhere between fifteen minutes to half an hour to properly introduce herself to everyone, because she began to involve herself within each person's job, watching on in amazement as this small group of people worked together like a well-oiled machine. She was also surprised by the maturity of these demigods, especially since the youngest ones were thirteen and the oldest was only nineteen. Demigods were expected to start fighting for their lives at a young age, Annabeth knew this, but it still didn't settle correctly with her knowing that the thirteen-year olds were prepared to fight in a war while when she was the same age, she was on a quest through the Sea of Monsters. Sure, that was no walk in the park, but at least it wasn't a war.

Once Annabeth learned everybody's names, Erica told the people in front of the closet (their names were Renee, Emilio, and Grace) to move out of the way so the two of them could talk in private. They then stepped into the closet, Erica having shut the door slightly to block out more of the sound.

When Annabeth had asked about adding all these sound barriers, Erica had replied with, "We always take precautions here. Even the walls have ears."

Annabeth nodded, in complete agreement with the need to keep everything tightly under wraps. Yesterday, she had witnessed her first execution, and if she thought witnessing Nico's torture wad a nightmare, she was a hundred percent wrong.

She'd watched in horror as a boy, who couldn't have been older than fourteen, was thrown into the center of the arena and ripped to shreds by vultures with razor-like beaks, the sacred animal of Ares. Apparently, the son of Ares had been sending messages to his siblings outside of the army by tying strips of paper to their ankles, so in a very Pontus-like way, he allowed for the boy to be murdered in the same way he leaked the army's information. The boy's screams would haunt Annabeth for the rest of her life, but she didn't have time to grieve for him right now, sad as it may seem.

Before Erica could tell Annabeth anything about the reason she had summoned her here, their watches vibrated three times, signaling that the Olympians had important information to share with them. The two of them walked out of the closet, sat down the rest of the members in a circle, and opened the faces of their watches, eleven holograms of the different gods appearing out of thin air. Annabeth reached into her pocket for the other watch so that Dionysus could be present in their briefing, but to her surprise, it seemed as if Hades had taken the wine god's place.

"What do you've have for us, boss?" Erica asked Zeus' hologram, bypassing all formalities as lights out was quickly approaching and Annabeth still had to race down the hallway to reach her barrack.

To the group's surprise, Zeus appeared to be absolutely crushed, shaking his head solemnly and looking for the other Olympians to speak for him. It pained Annabeth to see the King of Olympus look so defeated, and she wasn't even going to mention Poseidon, who looked like he was going to shove his own trident through his chest at a moment's notice.

"We have grave news," Athena answered at last, her face lacking all emotion and her voice lacking any sort of warmth, leaving her gray eyes positively crackling as she brainstormed and spoke at the same time. "Perseus has just payed us a visit, and in doing so, issued us an ultimatum."

"Which is?" Annabeth asked, staring intently at her mother's hologram hovering above her wrist. "What did Percy make you choose between, mother?"

"He gave us the choice of surrendering or fighting."

"No," Olly said, shaking his head. "It can't possibly be that simple. What's the catch?"

Athena sighed, pulling her hair into a severe bun and pinning it in place with one of the olive branches growing at the foot of her throne. "If we surrender, we'll all be allowed to live and keep our titles of our domains so long as we swear on the Styx to never overthrow Pontus and his allies."

"And if we refuse?" Grace questioned.

"We'll all be murdered, gods included."

"But, gods can't be killed," Tyler stated, pushing up the dark frames of his glasses. "I haven't found any evidence of anything powerful enough to kill a god."

"You forget Hecate has allied herself with Pontus," Artemis added. "With her mastery of sorcery and the countless spell books that Pontus is sure to have, there's no telling what concoctions she may come up with. She brewed the Soul Switch potion, after all. I wouldn't put it past her to create a spell powerful enough to send an immortal's soul directly into the Void."

The eleven demigods in the room shuddered at the thought of the Olympians, beings who have seen the rise and fall of entire civilizations for millions of years, only to suddenly be destroyed by something as simple as an enchanted item or drop of poisonous liquid.

"So, what's the plan? And how long do we have?" Annabeth asked, a million different thoughts whirring around her mind.

"We're not surrendering," Zeus finally answered, a tone of finality in his voice, as if daring any of the others to object. "Even if we agreed to the conditions given, the world would change drastically under the rule of Pontus, leaving mortals in peril."

"We have a week to come up with a plan," Hermes said, his fingers drumming on the pole of his caduceus as George and Martha slithered around, clearly agitated by their owner's tapping. "That's when our deadline is up and we must give Perseus an answer."

"Or else there will be war," Hades finished, his obsidian eyes becoming vacuums, sucking all the warmth out of both rooms. "And life as we know it will be destroyed."

"Way to keep it cheery," Apollo muttered, earning himself a jab to the ribs via Artemis.

"Is there anything else we need to know before we go?" Renee asked, clutching the swaths of gauze in her hand like a lifeline, her knuckles long since having gone white.

"No, but I do have a question," Hades said, his lips pursing into a concerned frown. "By any chance, has there been any sign of my son, Nico di Angelo, anywhere? The last time he was seen was the night of the attack, and he's been missing ever since."

"No, I don't-" Erica began, only to be cut off by Annabeth saying, "Yes, I've found Nico, Lord Hades. He's being held prisoner by Percy."

"Is he okay? Perseus hasn't hurt him, right?" Hades asked, the slightest semblance of hope evident in his voice. That's what made it so painful for Annabeth to reply with, "I'm afraid that Percy's hurt Nico a great deal, using him as a plaything to get into Pontus' good graces. I'm very sorry."

Annabeth watched as the shadows in the throne room collected around Hades, making his image so dark it almost blended in with the darkness of the barrack. And then he screamed, a noise so terrifying that Annabeth immediately found herself back in the pitch black of Tartarus, surrounded by those cursed arai as they cursed her with blindness, the single most frightening experience in her life as she screamed for Percy and was unable to find him.

"Hades!" she heard Demeter scream, before causing for a vine to wrap around his mouth, silencing him at once. "Silence, or else they will pay dearly because of you!"

"We've been conversing for too long," Erica said at last, glancing at the clock hanging from the wall. "This call could've very well been intercepted by now. It's time to go."

"Agreed," Zeus said. "We'll check in beginning in four days, once there's three days left until we must confront Perseus. If anything changes here, we'll let you know."

"Same here. Goodbye." And with that, the entire group closed their watches, the conversation and holograms dying instantly. Two seconds later, the giant bell tolled twice, signaling five minutes until lights out.

"Dammit," Erica muttered, grasping Annabeth's shoulder. "Our conversation isn't over yet. Meet me tomorrow by the swords at group training; we'll talk then."

"Sounds good," Annabeth said before waving goodbye at the others and taking off for Barrack Six before lights out was called. She had yet to feel the fury of Nyx's whip, and she was never going to experience that pain if she could help it.

Five minutes later, the bell tolled once, signaling lights out. As an extra check, dracaena soldiers were sent to count that every soldier was present and accounted for, threatening those who broke curfew to two night's in Thalassa's torture chamber. Once the serpentine women left, locking the Stygian iron doors from the outside, Annabeth crawled under the covers, the inkling of plans beginning to form in her mind.

While most demigods abhor the idea of having dreams, Annabeth prayed to Morpheus that he'd give her a glimpse of what was to come that night. War was inevitable at this point, and Annabeth knew that a peek into the future could mean the difference between life and death. Now all that was left to discover was where allegiances would be pledged.

* * *

 **Hey guys, how's it been? I know it's been a really long time since I last updated, and for that I'm sorry, but I'm finally on summer break, so expect more frequent updates.**

 **Thanks for reading! :D**


	9. Chapter 8

Percy walked into the observatory of his stepmother's torture chamber that night, his body humming with unused energy that needed to be expelled somehow. Training no longer gave him that same high that it used to as all his opponents, both real and mechanical, failed to provide him a real challenge. The only being he'd yet to best was Pontus, and that was due to his father always being needed, preventing the two from ever having a chance to duel.

From the walkway of the observatory, Percy saw the four soldiers, two males and two females, scrambling around the darkness like ants, screaming in fear and begging for mercy as the purple mist that filled the room brought their worst fears to life. Percy saw that Thalassa herself was also inside the chamber alongside with Nyx, the two primordials laughing as the prisoners were slowly driven to insanity.

"You know," Nyx was saying to Thalassa, her hand resting on the handle of her venomous whip, "I always thought physical torture was the most fun, but now I see why people would rather take a hundred lashes than spend a night here."

"It's magnificent, isn't it?" Thalassa remarked, creating a spear from the purple mist and chucking it at the nearest victim, cackling as a scream tore itself from the boy's throat as he fell to the floor and started yelling for his mommy. "The body is excellent at healing itself, but the mind, once broken, may never recover."

Percy found himself nodding in agreement with his stepmother, seeing as he had used both physical and mental torture before. A specific olive skinned, raven haired, dark eyed boy came to mind, reminding him that it was time to check in on said prisoner. After all, Nico had been handed over into Selene's care yesterday and she hadn't reported back or had been heard from in a while.

He walked out of the observatory and headed towards the elevator at the end of the hall, determined to find out if anything had happened down at the infirmary last night. Bad enough he was already wound up like spring, just waiting to explode, but now he had to investigate into the lack of communication from one of the generals.

Oh, the joys of being second in command.

While heading downstairs on the elevator, Marina joined him on the floor just above the infirmary ward. From the way her armor was dangling off her body and the messy state her hair was in, Percy guessed that she was late for group training.

"Lost again?" Percy asked in amusement, never having meeting a recruit so nonchalant about not knowing their way around headquarters.

Marina shot him a small smile as she finished tying the leather straps of her breastplate and pulled her dark locks into a messy ponytail. Her fingers flew to her waist, checking that her daggers were safely secured in their sheaths and that she wasn't missing any of them.

As the doors opened for the infirmary ward, Percy suddenly blurt out, "Follow me," nodding for Marina to exit the elevator with him. She cocked her head sideways in confusion as she walked out into the hall, looking at him expectantly. "Oh, right. Permission to speak."

"Where are we? And what's going on? I'm already late for group training."

"We're on the infirmary floor, and I need your help in investigating something," Percy replied, answering all of Marina's questions. "As for group training, don't worry too much about it. I'll train you later tonight in all the same techniques they're going over right now. I'll also talk to Perses and Helios to make sure you're not punished for missing class."

"Wow, that's awfully kind of you, my lord," Marina said, her emerald eyes wide in shock.

"Please, call me Percy," he said, waving off her awe. "We children of the sea need to stick together at times like these. When we're alone, I give you permission to treat and speak to me as an equal, but in the presence of others, we must act in the proper manner in which business is conducted here. Do you understand?"

"Yes. Thank you, Percy."

He shrugged. "It's no big deal. I hate the formalities of it all, anyways. Now, come. We have a Titaness to find."

Percy led Marina through the labyrinthine corridors, each one marked for which type of patients were being treated where. By far the biggest section was designated for the injured, whether that be from punishment or missions didn't matter, and each patient was ranked from one to five with five being the most critical to one being surface wounds.

Hundreds of children of Apollo and Asclepius dressed in yellow mesh trauma gowns ran up and down the halls, carrying everything from gauze to crash carts, from plaster for casts to bags of blood for those that needed it most. And, of course, every doctor here had ambrosia and nectar on them at all times.

"I didn't think so many people were dedicated to the infirmary," Marina said in awe as a siren went off in the ICU wing, meaning that someone had just called a code blue. Five doctors came racing down the hallway, one with a crash car, another with an ambu bag in hand, and the other three clearing a path in front, most likely the ones that would be responsible for compressions and medication.

Percy scoffed at her ignorance. "With an army of our size, a well-stocked infirmary is an absolute must. We have state of the art technology here along with some of the best healers in the world and are equipped for any injury as menial from a superficial sword wound to as serious as having all your limbs chopped off."

"That's a little extreme, isn't it? I mean, I haven't seen too many people have all their limbs chopped off and survive surgery."

"You must be thinking about mortal hospitals. Sure, we're not even close to saving every severely injured person that comes in here, but we try our best to help anyone that comes through those doors. We take care of our own here."

Marina didn't reply to Percy's last remarks, so he took her silence as not having any more questions and continued heading for the heart of the infirmary ward, where Selene's personal infirmary was held.

Selene was the doctor for the generals and the immortals in the army, and when she wasn't busy stitching Triton up together again, she was usually instructing any newcomers that preferred medicine over fighting in the ways of trauma treatment and how to quickly triage a patient.

Percy knew something was wrong from the sheer amount of silence that was coming from Selene's office. That place was always abuzz from the doctors who would bombard the Titaness with questions in order to become more efficient and accurate in their diagnoses or from people asking for Selene to demonstrate a particularly difficult skill that few would ever fully master in their lifetimes.

Currently, there was no one in the office, and all the lights were out, something that was the equivalence to an apocalypse in Percy's mind. Percy reached for his earpiece and pressed the button that opened up the connection from him to the rest of the generals.

"Code 12151919," Percy spoke softly, checking that Marina wasn't listening to him. She wasn't, instead reading a map that clearly labeled all the sections of the infirmary. "Repeat, we have a code 12151919 in the infirmary."

"Copy that, Perseus," Helios replied first. "Beginning lock down now."

"Someone ask Perses to check the cameras," Hecate said.

"Already on it," Perses replied, the faint sound of his mouse clicking getting picked up by his mic. "I'll let you guys know if I see anything."

"Copy that. Over and out," Percy said, lowering the voice of his intercom as the other generals spoke amongst themselves. Reaching for the ballpoint pen in his pocket, Percy called Marina over and the two burst into the dark office, aghast by the scene inside.

Gold ichor and dark red blood were a mess all over the floor, walls, cabinets, desks, and beds in the room, appearing to be more of a haunted house than a place where people were supposed to be treated. Protruding from the walls were various silver arrows, Selene's signature weapon.

"I thought Selene was supposed to be a healer," Marina said, her voice shaky as she tightly gripped the pommel of her dagger.

"She's one of the best healers that exist," Percy said, his fingertips ghosting over the shafts of the still glowing arrows before noticing that one of the heads had pierced something. "But she's also a Titaness, meaning that she's fully capable of defending herself if the need arises. I guess that need finally arose."

Percy yanked the arrow that had snagged a piece of fabric out of the wall and stashed it in his pocket to be examined at a later time. Marina went off to explore one half of the office while Percy covered the other half, carefully going through the overturned items and seeing if there were any other clues to see what had gone on here.

"Percy, look here!" Marina exclaimed as she pushed one of the examination tables out of the way, revealing a halo of ichor-stained auburn hair. There was Selene laying on the floor, her skin no longer glimmering its brilliant silver shine. Instead, there were four scalpels shoved deep into Selene's stomach, dried ichor surrounding each of the entry wounds.

Percy swore under his breath as his fingers palpated the skin by Selene's neck, hoping he'd find a pulse. Within seconds he found a weak and thread pulse, coupled with increasingly shallow breathing as Selene's eyes suddenly flew open, the sterling silver irises staring straight into Percy's soul.

"You're going to be okay," he told Selene, gripping her ichor stained hand. "Marina, I need you to press that silver button next to the intercom. And for the love of Chaos, turn on the lights!"

Marina did as instructed, slamming her hand down on the silver button a few times before racing over towards the door and flipping all the light switches on. Before returning to Percy's side, she went into the hallway and waved for help, saying that the Code Silver had been called for Selene's office.

"Perseus," Selene said through a gasped breath, ichor trickling out the side of her mouth. "I'm dying."

"No, you're not," Percy replied as he let go of Selene's hand, quickly slipping on a pair of the blue latex gloves. It was mandatory that every soldier go through three month's training in treating trauma, and as a future general, Percy had been forced to take a year's worth of courses. While he was by no means a great surgeon, Selene herself had trained Percy in what to do, so it was now time to put that training to good use.

"This is going to hurt," Percy said, asking for Marina to hand him a scalpel. He then turned to Marina and asked, "Have you ever performed emergency surgery before?"

She blanched. "No, never."

"Well, you're about to learn. All I need from you is to hand me what I need when I need it."

"Sounds easy enough. What's first?"

"Betadine and a whole lot of morphine."

* * *

Nico knew he was screwed from the moment the sirens began.

Bad enough that his fight with Selene left him in the same state he'd entered, leaving him limping away as fast as he could while self-splinting his arm with the shreds of his ruined jacket and clutching at his ribs. Thankfully, he'd been smart enough to find where Selene kept her nectar and ambrosia and stole a bottle and multiple squares, knowing that he'd need them for a later date.

Normally, Nico would've simply shadow traveled away, preferably back to Camp Half-Blood, but there was still the matter of the blasted leather cuff that was still attached to his wrist. He hadn't any idea in the slightest as to what kind of enchantment was placed on the cuff that prevented him from ripping it off, but as far as he knew, it was a power dampener, prohibiting him from using any of his powers.

As the alarms continued to blare and the echo of footsteps began growing louder, Nico reached into his pocket, pulled out one of the precious ambrosia squares, and bit off half of the square before taking off, feeling some of the pain subside as he fled in the opposite direction of the oncoming footsteps.

"Code silver," a voice said over the intercom. "Repeat, code silver. All soldiers are to report to their battle stations, and all non-essential personnel must check in with the closest general immediately."

"If anyone is caught in a restricted area or somewhere other than the areas previously stated, the consequences will be severe," another voice said, his tone steely cold, as if daring anyone to disobey.

Nico ran down the hallway in search of the nearest stairwell, when all of a sudden he heard a pair of voices that were way too close for comfort to his location. To add on to his horror, he recognized both voices instantly, pegging them down as belonging to Percy and Annabeth.

 _Annabeth?_ Nico thought as he pressed himself tightly up against the wall, inching his way towards the wooden door with a picture of a man running down the stairs. _Did they get to her too?_

"He's close by, I know it," Percy growled, causing for Nico to shudder as he heard the sound of a blade being unsheathed. "Hecate's magic is infallible. It's only a matter of time until I have my hands around his skinny little throat."

"If it's not too personal, what happened between you two?" Annabeth asked, probably undercover at the moment, which could be the only possibility as to why she was still roaming the halls freely.

"That _boy_ broke my heart and then betrayed me in the worst possible way imaginable. After promising everything he ever wanted in the world, he tossed me aside like old garbage after learning of the gift he would be receiving thanks to me," Percy spat, his words so venomous that Nico was seriously beginning to fear for his life.

"If I teach you anything from your time here, it's to not fall in love, Marina. Love will tear you apart, making you vulnerable and weak," Percy continued to rant, the bronze glow of Riptide slowly growing brighter as he made his way in Nico's direction.

Nico held his breath and ran the last few feet to the stairwell, being extremely careful to shut the door as quietly as possible so that it appeared to be unused by anyone. However, his curiosity getting the better of him, he pressed his ear to the door and listened to the rest of the duo's conversation.

"So, if the Olympians fail to surrender, what will become of Aphrodite and Eros?" Annabeth asked softly, her voice just on the other side of the door, meaning had Nico not hid when he did, he'd be dead meat by now.

"Let's just say I've had a special punishment in mind for those two for a long time. It helps when you know many heartbroken immortals who would love to see the love gods suffer for their crimes."

"He isn't here," Annabeth said, brushing off Percy's dark answer. "Maybe the spell isn't working."

"No, he's here alright. For all we know, he may be on the other side of this door." All of a sudden, Riptide's three-foot long blade pierced through the wood, being all the incentive needed for Nico to jump from the railing to the next floor down, landing awkwardly as he felt his dislocated shoulder be shoved back into place from his roll.

"Follow the floating fabric!" Annabeth exclaimed, more as a warning to Nico than actually being excited about capturing him.

Nico was grateful for the head start his friend had bought him, and this time, instead of jumping from railings, he raced down the stairs, his feet light as feathers as he descended down the twisting spiral staircase.

Just as he reached the bottom of what must've been a ten-foot descend, he threw the door open and continued running, glad the hallways were vacant after the two announcements earlier. Nico ran down the hallway, peering in through the ajar doors in the hopes of finding someplace to hide.

Luckily for him, he stumbled upon the kitchen just as he heard, "There you are!" from Percy. Nico grabbed three of the brooms from the corners, shoved them through the handles of the doors, and dove behind the mountain of crates of apples and bags of flour and sugar.

It wasn't even two seconds after Nico had found a place to hide and curled himself into a ball that he heard Percy's cold and unforgiving voice. "Oh, Nico," Percy crooned, in a similar way a parent would to a child when playing hide-and-seek, only this time, the game ended in death if the hider was discovered. "Did you really think something as simple as barricading the door would stop me? Did you really think I wouldn't find you?"

Nico flinched as he heard the sound of glass shattering as a result of Percy stabbing the china cabinet, destroying dozens of innocent glasses. Next came the sound of clattering silverware and cooking equipment, as pots, pans, knives, and the like were thrown around the kitchen like Percy was throwing a temper tantrum. A knife lodged itself mere millimeters above Nico's head, causing for him to hold his breath even more than he already was.

"Come out, come out, come out wherever you are," Percy said, knocking over one of the pantries. To Nico's advantage, he yanked the knife from the wall when the pantry fell to the floor, masking the sound of the blade being pulled from the drywall. Sure, the knife wouldn't be a match against Riptide by any means, but maybe if he was lucky, Nico could catch Percy off guard and manage a way to escape.

 _Father, help me._ Nico prayed as Percy's sea-green orbs finally peeked over the crates and bags, a sinister smile resting coolly on his lips. "Found you!" he exclaimed wickedly, reaching over the pile and yanking Nico up by the collar of his shirt, indifferent of the fact that he just pulled Nico through a couple of the wooden crates, which had knocked the wind out of him.

"So what?" Nico spat, brandishing the knife in Percy's direction, causing for the older boy to laugh. "What's so amusing, Perseus?"

Percy wiped a tear from his eye, shaking his head at Nico as if he was an ignorant child. "The fact that you think you can defeat me with a steak knife is absolutely precious."

In addition to Riptide, Percy pulled out another ballpoint pen and uncapped it, revealing another, more deadly sword. This sword could've passed off as Kronos' sword, Backbiter, if it wasn't for the fact that instead of two metals being used, there were five. Nico recognized the Celestial bronze, Stygian iron, Imperial gold, and mortal steel, but there was a turquoise metal as well, something he couldn't identify.

"Here," Percy said, throwing Riptide down at Nico's feet, breaking him out of his reverie. "To show you that I'm not cruel, I'll give you a worthy weapon. A gift from an old friend of mine."

"Zoe would be ashamed of what you've become," Nico retorted as he picked up Riptide, the blade just as balanced as his Stygian iron sword that had been a gift from his father. "You've become the very thing all the Hunters despise, Perseus! You murder and torture and claim that it's mercy!"

Whatever levity Percy had had towards Nico disappeared in a puff of smoke as Percy's jaw locked and his eyes glowed, the face he made every time he went into battle. "You have no right to bring up Zoe Nightshade in this palace, not when you contributed to her death, you ungrateful inbreed! She was a loyal ally and would understand why I'm doing this. Now, I'm giving you one last chance to pledge yourself to Pontus, or else you'll see me when I'm angry. And you really don't want to see me angry."

"I'll never ally myself with a monster like Pontus."

"What has Pontus done that the Olympians haven't?" Percy pressed on, lowering into a fighting stance. "They've murdered, tortured, conquered, violated, and destroyed countless of people and civilizations. Pontus brings a new beginning, where no one will ever suffer again as long as you obey."

Nico lunged forward, aiming for Percy's chest, only to be easily deflected by Percy's new blade and forced to parry the returning blow. "That's not freedom," Nico grunted, rolling to the side as Percy swung in a deadly arc, narrowly missing his neck. "That's endless torment. That's not a life worth living!"

Percy stomped, causing for a miniature earthquake to shake through the room, knocking Nico off his feet, giving him a chance to lunge for the vulnerable son of Hades. However, Nico had trained with Percy before and knew what to expect, having already lifted Riptide up to defend himself.

What came next definitely stunned Nico as Percy ditched his sword in favor of hand-to-hand combat. Nico swung again at Percy, only for his wrist to be caught in a vice-like grip that had him collapsing on his knees as he felt the tiny bones shatter.

Refusing to give up, Nico downed the other half of his partially eaten ambrosia square and took the defense, waiting for Percy to lash out first. And as Nico predicted, Percy lunged forward, bringing his knee up to hit Nico in the chest. Nico shoved Percy's knee aside, leaving him open for the solid right hook that landed on his nose, causing for blood to begin gushing down his face.

"Come on, son of Hades," Percy taunted, tackling and pinning Nico under his weight. "Hit me!"

Nico attempted to strike back, trying to throw Percy off of him or even land on hit on his unblemished face, all to no avail. Nico was easily twenty pounds lighter than Percy after choosing to starve himself before his capture alongside the rapid weight loss that had followed his capture from living off of nothing but stale bread and water. In addition to being smaller, he was still badly beat up from Percy's torture and the fight he'd gotten into with Selene, leaving him extremely vulnerable to any attack.

Eventually, Percy stilled, remaining perfectly calm as he continued pinning Nico down while he contemplated something. Nico knew better than to move, because the moment he tried to head butt Percy, the older demigod had simply applied pressure to Nico's shattered wrist, causing for black dots to dance in Nico's vision from the severity of the pain.

"Just, kill me," Nico begged, turning to couch, wincing as he felt blood dribble onto his chin and land on the floor. "Please, kill me."

Percy merely smiled, lifting the new blade in his hand and shifting it around, as if he was trying to figure out which grip would be the most dignified as he killed the last surviving son of Hades. "Now, why would I do that, my pet?" Percy cooed, brushing back Nico's blood soaked hair from his forehead with his free hand. "Our fun's only just begun."

Instead of killing Nico, Percy lifted his sword and slammed the pommel right into Nico's temple, knocking him out instantly, something which had become all too common of occurrence in the last few days.

"Marina!" Percy called out as he got up from straddling Nico, walking over to the doors to remove the brooms from the handles. "I need you to take the son of Hades to my room, please. When you leave, lock the door."

"Yes, Percy," Marina said softly, staring at the limp form Nico di Angelo on the kitchen floor, cringing at the sight of the blood soaked clothes and the blood that was flowing from his mouth. "Do you need me to call a doctor too, or…?"

"I'll take care of him, I promise," Percy said as he sheathed both Riptide and his new sword, which he had yet to name. When he noticed Marina's incredulous gaze, he added, "I may seem like a heartless general, but trust me when I say the son of Hades will be taken care of. Anyways, I'm not through with him yet."

"Okay," Marina agreed, walking into the dark kitchen and bending down to scoop up Nico into her arms. "Where should I meet you after leaving Nico?"

"Meet me in the arena in two hours. And take this with you," Percy paused to unclip one of his personal pins that Pontus insisted on making from his shirt and pinned it onto Marina's leather strap from her breastplate. "My father knows that I'm overseeing your training – and that means the other generals have been informed as well – so if anyone stops you, they'll see this pin and know you were with me. You don't need to be afraid of me, Marina, not so long as we trust one another."

Marina gulped quietly, the weight of Percy's words weighing heavily down on her shoulders. "I understand completely, Percy. I'll meet you in the arena in two hours."

With that, Percy left Marina to take Nico up to his room, making his way down the hall into his father's strategy room. They had much to discuss and very little time to do so.


	10. Chapter 9

Camp Half-Blood had grown exponentially since the last time Luke, err, Kronos had been there, including the newly christened city of New Athens that branched off into the forest and the brand new prison, where he was being taken by his infernal grandson and his girlfriend.

The Celestial bronze shackles chaffed the skin around his wrists into a raw, red mess, making him curse at the fragility of having a human host. No, Luke was no longer alive, but as this was Kronos' last vessel, it was the only way Pontus was able to fully bring him back without compromising his strength.

The boy, Jason, walked behind Kronos, a Roman pilum gripped tightly in his hand as he pointed it at his back, prodding Kronos along whenever he stopped to look around for a moment. "No time for sightseeing," Jason would hiss, poking the end of his electric spear into Kronos' back, shocking Kronos in the same way one would be shocked due to static electricity.

Once Jason and his girlfriend had finally gotten Kronos in a prison cell, they quickly pressed the button that raised the barrier which prevented Kronos from so much as sticking his hand through the Celestial bronze and Imperial gold bars. Not that he needed to escape at the moment, but it definitely dampened his spirits as he'd no longer have the chance to grab a demigod by the throat and make them cower in fear.

"So," the girl said, pulling a stool from a nearby chair and stopping it in front of Kronos' cell. "You swore on the Styx you'd tell us the truth. Talk!"

Kronos merely shook his head, trying to fight back his infamous smirk that usually pissed off whoever he was talking to even more. "You are mistaken, little girl. I swore on the Styx that everything I'd said was true, not that I'd talk. You better improve your listening skills, because it'd be such a shame if you interpreted something incorrectly in battle."

"What do you care?" Jason said protectively, standing up from his own chair and pressing himself as close to the barrier as possible without hurting himself, a fierce scowl tugging at his lips.

"Yeah, there's a reason you're called the Crooked One," the girl insisted, gently pulling Jason back into his seat while holding his hand to keep him in place. "You're a smooth talker, and if you don't start telling us what we want to know ASAP, I'll bring in Clarisse so that you'll be more 'cooperative.'" The girl said the word cooperative in air quotes, essentially meaning that Clarisse would pummel him to a pulp until he spoke.

"My lips are sealed, demigods," Kronos spoke coolly, flashing him his smirk just to get a kick out of their frustration. "I already told Jason what he needs to know, so make use of that instead of torturing information out of me."

"We're going to get him back," Jason huffed angrily, though his skin had blanched significantly after remembering the few words Kronos had told him back in the Big House. "I promise you we're going to defeat you and the master you serve, and we'll get our friend back."

"Friend?" Kronos laughed, shaking his head at their naivety. "As in singular? Wow, I didn't think you had the guts to leave someone behind."

"What do you mean?" the girl said, gripping the pommel of the dagger sheathed at her waist like a lifeline.

"Don't be daft! You know of whom I speak, both of them. When the time is right, the Olympians' favorite pawns will be turned against them, and I will march alongside them, watching as Olympus falls into ruin!"

"We'll get Percy back," the girl said, her voice full of conviction. "And if anyone else was kidnapped, we'll get them back, too."

Jason, on the other hand, was silent, thinking quietly to himself, clearly racking his brain as to who else had recently gone missing. When the realization hit, he stumbled back, knocking over both chairs and falling to the floor as a result.

"Piper," he said urgently, his electric blue eyes shining with unbridled fear. "Nico was kidnapped during the attack, remember? He's the only other person who's gone missing!"

The girl, Piper, screwed her eyes shut and tightened her hands into fists from the sheer amount of anger she was feeling. Kronos smirked the entire time, wishing he'd had popcorn to enjoy while he watched some of the Heroes of Olympus fall apart in front of his very eyes. Pontus had been right to send him instead of, say, Perses or Erebus, who would much rather shove a sword into someone's abdomen rather than speak. No, Kronos enjoyed using his silver tongue to manipulate those around him, especially when he was conversing with young demigods who were still emotionally distraught over the loss of their friends.

"You better pray to your master that Nico is unhurt, or I swear you'll suffer for the rest of your sad, pathetic life," Jason seethed, electricity beginning to spark around his fingertips. He then turned to Piper and said, "We need to tell Chiron immediately. Who knows if Nico's under the same spell as Percy?"

"He does," Piper said, gesturing to Kronos, who just shook his head and turned his back to them, clearly not going to tell them anything else. "But, we better just assume that Nico's turned and prepare for that as well. I mean, we only have six days left until the deadline is up."

The duo realized that they were still conversing in front of the Titan King and gave Kronos one final glare before making their way up the steep stairs that led down into the prison, their voices fading until Kronos heard the door close and the locks slide into place.

Kronos sat down on the edge of the little bed provided and sighed as he heard the lock within the shackles open, releasing him from the magical handcuffs. And thankfully for him, he was the only one inhabiting the prison at the moment, giving him complete privacy. He even checked if there were cameras and smiled to himself when he realized that the demigods hadn't thought of the detail, therefore allowing for anything to go on within the cells without anyone needing to know.

Kronos reached into his pocket and pulled out the coin Pontus had given him before he'd led the march on Camp Half-Blood two days ago. It was no bigger than a dime and couldn't ever be mistaken for a mortal coin as it was completely turquoise with Pontus' face engraved on one side and the insignia of the royal family printed onto the other.

After checking again that there were absolutely no cameras and no means of spying in on him, Kronos threw the coin to the ground, watching the little thing shatter and in its place, something akin to an Iris message appeared, showing Pontus and Perseus locked into a heated discussion.

"Pardon me, my lord," Kronos said respectfully, not wanting to incur the primordial's fury even if they were about three-thousand miles apart. "I have news."

"Well, out with it, then," Pontus demanded, glancing back at forth between the Titan and his son, who was also looking expectantly at Kronos.

"Our plan is working. They believe the son of Hades is under our command, and they truly believe that we will wait until the deadline before we attack," Kronos informed. "And I've managed to unnerve Jason and Piper, both of whom are viewed as leaders at the camps. If we keep on this path, we may be able to continue weakening from the inside out."

Pontus smiled evilly, something that made Kronos' skin crawl as he could count the amount of times that primordial smiled on one hand. His eyes would darken, as if someone was entering the darkest depths of the ocean, and he'd give off a faint glow, just a taste of the full manifestation of the unimaginable power that a primordial could wield with a snap of their fingers.

"Perfect," Pontus crooned. "We shall march on that blasted Camp Jupiter in two days, as it is the stronger of the two camps, and then we'll take down Camp Half-Blood. Once the camps are down, Olympus is ours for the taking."

"As you command, my lord."

"Don't fret, my general, we shall break you out of prison soon. You shall be there by my side when we reclaim what was taken for us."

Kronos smiled himself at the thought of finally reaping his revenge against his traitorous children. "With pleasure, my lord. We shall see each other soon."

* * *

Back at Pontus' fortress, Annabeth was running for the arena, needing to take out her frustration on people rather than the dumb automatons Percy would activate for her. Okay, she took it back, those automatons were anything but stupid, and they were some of the most intricate and well-built machines she'd ever seen, and this was coming from a girl who's visited Hephaestus' forges multiple times. But they failed to give her the satisfaction she craved when training, enjoying the feeling of fighting with another person rather than a robot any day of the week.

"You're late," Lady Nyx hissed when Annabeth came into the arena, the barracks already having trained for today. She saw as her friends started to take off their armor and fall to the floor, laughing from how sore they'd be later and generally goofing off for the moment, actually having a chance to act like teenagers instead of warriors that were willing to lay their lives down for Pontus in an instant.

Annabeth merely bowed her head, knowing she'd be punished if she spoke or looked at Nyx without the primordial's permission. Nyx's hand then jerked Annabeth's head up, the freezing cold of night burning her skin, as if she'd been thrown into the Arctic Ocean that was already full of liquid nitrogen.

"Such a shame that your pretty face will be on the receiving end of my whip," Nyx crooned, her hand tracing the side of Annabeth's face, leaving the burning cold sensation in her wake.

Annabeth then reached for the pin on her armor's strap and held it up for Nyx to see, her vision starting to grow fuzzy from the sheer pain of having Nyx's hand gripping her throat. Seconds later, she was released, leaving her to cough and sputter until she was able to breathe on her own.

"I see," Nyx said coyly, almost like a teenage girl who just found out the name of the boy that her friend likes. "You had an appointment with General Perseus, didn't you? Speak!"

"Yes, my lady," Annabeth said respectfully, her gaze fixated on her ichor spattered boots. "I was with General Perseus when the code silver was called, and he asked for my help, so I was with him up until five minutes ago."

She heard Nyx inhale sharply, making Annabeth wonder if the primordial of Night had been aware of the code at all. By the way she whirled around and lashed out at Triton, who had been on the other side of the arena, with her whip, Annabeth guessed that Nyx had been completely unaware of what had happened.

"We were under a code silver and you didn't tell me!" Nyx shouted, slapping Triton so loudly that the sound reverberated around the arena, immediately attracting the attention of all the warriors that were still in the arena. "All of you leave, now!"

The soldiers didn't need to be told twice as they all ran out of the room – all except for Annabeth, that is. She had a feeling that Nyx would want to question her about what had happened during the code silver, especially since Nyx and Selene were the best of friends amongst the generals, acting like teenage girls when left alone together yet still able to command a room with a few words.

Annabeth heard Triton wince, clearly hating the fact that he was on the receiving end of Nyx's fearsome whip. Of course, he was a god, so while it still may have caused him a whole lot of pain, he was still better off than any of the demigods or demititans that were subject to Nyx's weapon of choice.

"I didn't think it was important," Triton wheezed out, groaning again as Nyx tightened her grip.

"Not important?" Nyx bellowed. "You and I are both aware that anything other than a code red refers to the infirmary, where Selene is! If she is hurt because of your stupidity and ignorance, you will be in a whole world of hurt once Pontus lets me get my hands on you!"

Triton merely whimpered, proving once again that he was the cowardly general, unable to face one of his own. Annabeth heard Nyx sigh and someone hit the ground, presumably Triton. Within seconds, the primordial was in front of Annabeth, saying, "You may look at me and speak freely for the duration of this conversation."

"Thank you, my lady," Annabeth replied, finally meeting Nyx's eyes.

She was just as scary as Annabeth remembered from their brief encounter in Tartarus, just before she released all of her children on them and she and Percy had to flee through the Mansion of Night.

Ah, good times.

Nyx had shed the black dress in favor of her own armor which was dark as the void while different specks of light moved and flowed on the metal, as if galaxies were being born from her armor. She was more of a shadow rather than taking a physical form, and her eyes were two little pin points, like dying stars. Her wings were still as menacing as ever, darkness rolling off of them in waves and making Annabeth feel like she was slowly sinking back into that gods-forsaken pit, where the darkness was so complete she couldn't even see her own hand in front of her face.

Despite feeling like she was about to have a panic attack, Annabeth dug her nails into her palms, steadying her and grounding her mind on the present instead of the path. If she gave Nyx the impression that they had met before, the primordial would've immediately blown Annabeth's cover, as she was the only female demigod that had ever made it into and out of Tartarus.

"Tell me what happened during the code silver," Nyx demanded, impatiently tapping her foot.

Annabeth told Nyx everything about what she and Percy had found in the infirmary, telling her every detail no matter how gruesome. The only thing she truthfully withheld was Nico's identity, choosing to tell Nyx that she hadn't been able to get a clear look at the attacker, but that he was under Perseus' custody.

"I see," she said at last, her whip vanishing from her hand. "I must give my thanks to General Perseus and yourself for saving my friend. I'm off to visit Selene, but in the meantime, you can train with Triton while you wait for Perseus."

"Will he mind, my lady?" Annabeth asked, glancing over at the disgraced sea god, who appeared to be debating whether he should dump a barrel full of water over his head.

"Who cares? He's the lowest ranking general, even under Leto and Hecate. I give you full access to the arena and its weaponry until Perseus arrives for your lesson."

Nyx then walked over to Triton, dumped the barrel over his head, slapped him one more time, and left the arena without a second glance in their direction. Triton snapped his fingers and the barrel immediately disappeared, and with it, the water. Scowling at what had just happened, Triton put his armor back on and turned to Annabeth.

"Suit up," he ordered, gesturing to the rest of the armor that had been left behind by the other soldiers.

Annabeth looked down, confused as to why Triton was ordering her into armor when she was already fully dressed for combat down to her vambraces and greaves. Her daggers were even sheathed at her waist, waiting for her to pull them out to play.

"Oh," Triton said sheepishly, blushing a deep green color. "Nyx killed more brain cells than I thought. Anyhow, we begin."

* * *

That night after Percy had finished his two hour long training session with Marina, he had the worst nightmare of his entire life.

Percy stood up in his dream and looked around, frowning slightly as the room he was in was almost an exact replica of the room he was currently sleeping in. The only differences were the clear tubes full of fish and the fact that the entire room shimmered in blue and green light, like looking at the sunlight while being underwater. His room in Pontus' palace didn't have any fish – the little buggers were annoying, and since they were so deep, the only fish that could be seen were huge and freaky – and everything ran on electricity, meaning no shimmering lights.

Everything down to the blue shade of his bedsheets were the same, leaving Percy slightly unnerved. He was standing by the door of the room, but even from here, he could tell something was resting in the bed.

He walked over to the bed, his hand tightly gripping the ballpoint pen in his pocket. He wasn't going to be taken by surprise, not even in a dream. Percy had learned that the hard way after Pontus had cashed in a favor with Morpheus and made Percy train through dreams, leaving him sore and injured when he woke up.

Percy's breath caught when he saw what was underneath the covers.

It was him, sleeping peacefully while that same shimmering light that filled the room covered him as well. Curious, Percy attempted to touch his sleeping body, only to be met with a pulse of energy that sent him flying back into the wall.

"What the hell?" Percy muttered to himself, getting back onto his feet and uncapping Riptide.

He returned to his body, wondering why he was here under some kinda spell. From the failsafe he'd experienced, he ruled out Hecate's magic, as she usually preferred to turn people into weasels or guinea pigs.

At the thought of guinea pigs, Percy gripped his head, feeling as if someone had just shot him in the small of his back, his most sensitive point on his body. There was a pain behind his eyes and flashes of a girl with curly blonde hair, but he couldn't make out her face or anything else about their surroundings.

A suppressed memory, Percy figured, leaving his body in favor of investigating what was going on outside the room.

When he reached for the doorknob, someone walked into the room. It was a man who appeared to be in his mid to late thirties with jet black hair and sea green eyes, the same eyes Percy saw every time he looked into a mirror.

Percy's feet moved on his own accord before he slashed at the man's neck, wanting to kill him for what he had done to Percy. Poseidon destroyed any good thing that had been in Percy's life, including a chance to raise his baby sister and have a somewhat normal life with…he couldn't exactly remember who he had been dating, but still, because of Poseidon, whoever it was thought he was dead.

And he didn't have a clue how his mom and Paul were doing, because Pontus prohibited him from contacting them at all. At first, Percy had tried to argue the fact, but he later realized Pontus was trying to protect his parents. By involving them, the Olympians would use them as weapons against him, so keeping them at a distance kept them safer than bringing them into the line of fire.

To his disappointment, Riptide passed through Poseidon's neck as if the blade was made of smoke, forcing Percy to realize that this was only a dream or a memory. Moments later, after Poseidon had made himself comfortable by Percy's bedside – only further angering him – the wall exploded, and out of the newly made hole came three men.

Percy quickly recognized Apollo as one of them, but he couldn't identify the other two. One was a boy about sixteen or seventeen with cropped blond hair and electric blue eyes. By the way sparks were flying from his fingertips, Percy labeled him as a kid of Zeus or Jupiter. Once he saw the many stripes and an eagle branded into the boy's forearm, he knew this was a son of Jupiter.

As for the other boy, he was a blur of black, standing toe to toe with Poseidon while the sea god fought with his trident. It wasn't until Poseidon smacked the boy away, forcing him to stop to gain his bearings that Percy identified the boy as none other than the son of Hades, Nico di Angelo.

"Jason, get Percy out of here!" Nico told the son of Jupiter, engaging Poseidon once again.

"No, don't touch him!" Poseidon shouted, sweeping Nico off his feet before blasting Jason into a wall with a blast of energy from his trident.

Percy watched in sick fascination as the two fought, clearly trying to kill each other. Although his recent events with Nico di Angelo still made him dislike the son of Hades, he couldn't help but feel the slightest bit of trust start to form. Nico had been willing to fight Poseidon for him.

Before a clear winner could be discerned, Percy's dream shifted.

He was no longer standing in Poseidon's palace, instead sitting by a campfire in the middle of nowhere. Snow covered the floor, meaning it was either winter wherever they were or they were really far up north. Nico di Angelo was sleeping on a log to his immediate right, the boy's skin so pale that it was almost blue from the cold.

Percy, the one who was watching the past, sat away from his and Nico's bodies, his nails digging into the palms of his hands when he saw the two of them converse like old friends. He watched as the two told Poseidon, who was here for some unknown reason, to screw off, ignoring the god while they spoke, their faces bright red.

When Percy saw that he and Nico had kissed, he almost dropped dead right there and then. This had to be some sort of joke on Morpheus' part, because no way in Chaos would Percy willingly allow for the son of hades to kiss him. Sure, he had come to terms with his bisexuality a while ago, but he _hated_ Nico di Angelo.

The son of Hades had been the one to convince the gods to kill Percy, lying straight to their faces and telling them that he had planned alongside Kronos and Gaea in the previous wars he had fought in. Nico even convinced Poseidon to disown him, allowing him to be in agony for days while his former "friends" laughed and tortured him as his body attacked itself from the inside out.

He remembered watching as Frank, Hazel, Reyna, Bianca, and Nico hurt him, keeping him chained to a marble pillar with Celestial bronze chains like he was some kind of monster instead of a dying kid. To add insult to injury, they even brought in Poseidon a couple of times to make sure the disownment process was working, watching as his body failed since his body only had half of the necessary chromosomes left to carry daily functions.

Nico di Angelo had been his downfall, toying with his heart before ripping it out of his chest and crushing it into a fine powder.

Maybe he should thank the kid. After all, he was by far the most heartless of all the generals with the only one who could be crueler being Pontus himself. His cruelty made him strong, successful, both of which made him valuable to his father and to the army. Because of Nico di Angelo, Percy was the strongest demigod alive.

Because of Nico di Angelo, Pontus would rule the world.

Because of Nico di Angelo, Olympus would burn.

Because of Nico di Angelo, Percy was finally free.


End file.
